Contingent Absolution - Volume Two
by Sarrlo
Summary: Five months after the events that drew them together, the crew of the MSV Hyperion has found their place in the lawless underbelly of the galaxy. However, they soon find themselves in deeper than they had anticipated after accepting a deal offered by two powerful strangers. /A continuation of the story that began in Contingent Absolution - Volume One\
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**

While this story contains all original characters the universe is entirely the property of EA and Bioware.

* * *

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 1**

_**Blood Pack Munitions Depot, Second moon of Imorkan, Sahrabarik System**_

"_Will! What's the situation?"_

Eleena's voice crackled over the comms as Will stared down at the mess in front of him. So far this assured "milk run" of a mission that they were engaged in was proving to be anything but that. The objective was simple enough: destroy a Blood Pack munitions dump. Their employer, a batarian whose business was ruined by the ruthless krogan and vorcha, had obtained the information regarding this weapons depot and assured them that it would be a simple mission. Shansa and Tul's scouting in the Kodiak had revealed a collection of prefab structures at the edge of a massive cliff centered around a large warehouse. They launched their attack minutes later only to have a pair of Blood Pack shuttles arrive just Shansa zipped away to hide herself and the Kodiak in a nearby crater. Two dozen Blood Pack soldiers poured from the landing pad and into the base. Despite a good effort from the _Hyperion_ crew to hide the Blood Pack quickly stumbled upon the squad.

Kallux and Eleena had run for the opposite end of the facility to draw the attention of their foes from Will and Tul. The human and quarian had managed to sneak out of sight and into the warehouse where they finally found their objective: hundreds upon hundreds of crates packed with guns, flamer fuel and explosives. As Will prepared their remotely detonated explosive, fate gave them another slap in the face: the trigger mechanism was not responding. He stared in disbelief as Eleena shouted into his ear.

"_Will?!"_

He shook his head and looked over to Tul. "I can't get the trigger working."

The quarian leaned over and groaned. "I just checked it before the mission!"

"_I swear to the goddess, if you two are dead I-"_

"We're okay!" Will quickly shouted in reply. "But we've got a small problem."

"_Oh, you've got a problem?"_ Eleena inquired sarcastically, gunfire blaring under her voice. _"Just take your time."_

"_We're in a corner,"_ Kallux added calmly, the hammering of his cannon behind him. _"We're in a barracks at the edge of the cliff. Only one entrance so we're keeping them bottled up."_

"The trigger mechanism is malfunctioning!" Tul informed them irritably.

Eleena shouted in exertion as the sound of a biotic shockwave rang out. _"Then fix it!"_

Will looked over the bomb and shook his head. "We're not explosives experts!" He sighed in exhasperation. "We'll figure something out."

Tul stood and looked around the room. "There's got to be a trigger we can use in one of these crates."

Will pulled himself up beside the quarian. "You really want to dig through every box?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Tul inquired as he stepped toward the first container and began pulling up the lid.

"Raaaggghh! Intruders!"

Will spun to see a vorcha standing in the doorway. He was a alone, luckily, and appeared to not have his flamer equipped. As the vorcha pulled up his shotgun Will drew his pistol with deft speed and squeezed off a few quick shots into the Blood Pack grunt's head and neck. The vorcha screeched in pain and fell to the ground, gurgling as blood filled his throat. As Will stared down the door to be sure that the vorcha had no friends following behind him, something caught his eye: a pipe running from the floor to the ceiling with the painted symbol of an orange and red explosion.

"Tul, forget the crates," Will advised as he ran to the pipe and looked over the valve positioned at eye-level. "Call Shansa and tell her to get over here fast."

Tul looked up curiously. "What? Why?"

Will pulled his rifle from his back. "Just do it."

"Shansa, do you read?" Tul inquired over the comms as Will raised his M-15.

"_I'm here!"_ Shansa was clearly ready to be off this moon as well.

"We need an extraction," Tul informed her. "We'll be on the roof of the warehouse at the center of the complex."

"_Gotcha, be there in about two minutes."_

Will stepped to the side of the pipe and brought the butt of his rifle down onto the valve handle with a grunt. The wheel popped off and shot a few feet away as the sound of a clear gas began rushing from the pipe and into the room. Will turned and ran to Tul'Sorrin with an outstretched hand.

"Give me your blowtorch!"

The quarian paused briefly before pulling the small blowtorch from a pouch on his outer thigh. "I need this for making suit repairs, you know."

Will grabbed the tool and ran to the opposite side of the room. "I'll buy you a new one with a gold embroidery!"

He ignited the blowtorch and placed it at the far corner of the cavernous room before sprinting back to where Tul stood by the growing plume of gas. The quarian, having caught wind of Will's plan, turned and followed the captain out the door without question. Will led them out the door and to the right where a ladder at the end of the hallway ascended into the ceiling and, hopefully, the roof. Will leapt up and grabbed hold of a high rung with Tul starting below him as they climbed as fast as they safely could. The hatch at the end of the ladder opened with the push of a button and Will pulled himself to the roof with a grunt before turning and offering a hand up to Tul'Sorrin. The massive gas giant Imorkan loomed above them and left a blue tint on the visor of Will's helmet. The pair shut the hatch behind them and crouched down to avoid being spotted by the flurry of Blood Pack running about the base below them. After a few seconds of waiting the roar of the Kodiak's thrusters filled their ears along with a series of shots from the krogan and vorcha below. The bullets reflected off of the shuttle's armor as Shansa lowered the Kodiak to the roof and opened the side hatch.

"_Hope you two brought your tickets,"_ Shansa quipped.

Will ran to the shuttle and jumped through the open door. "Bill me later!" He opened the comm to Eleena and Kallux as Tul leapt into the shuttle behind him. "Extraction incoming! Where are you two?"

"_Squad waypoint is up,"_ Kallux responded as a blue blip appeared on the squad's HUD. _"Circle around back and keep the door open!"_

Will reached up and grabbed onto a handle bar to balance himself as Shansa sent the Kodiak blasting off toward the waypoint. Tul'Sorrin jumped past Will and into the cockpit as they soared over the prefab buildings. Will ducked slightly as a few shots whizzed past him and into the shuttle, impacting on the wall behind him. The shuttle circled around as they reached the edge of the facility and descended with the open door toward a series of floor to ceiling windows on the wall of the barracks.

"_Watch your heads!"_ Kallux shouted.

Will raised his rifle to the ready as a series of shots from Kallux's cannon burst through one of the windows. Shansa spotted the opening and brought the Kodiak's side hatch adjacent to the gaping hole in the side of the building. Inside, Kallux and Eleena were firing at the horde of vorcha and their krogan commander as they attempted to scramble through the door and into the room. Eleena let down a final massive shockwave, toppling the Blood Pack and giving herself and Kallux a brief respite from the gunfire. The pair turned and sprinted toward the hole in the wall as Will opened fire over their heads and into the recovering vorcha. Eleena leapt for the Kodiak and slammed into the floor beside Will with Kallux following close behind. One of the Blood Pack krogan fired off a blast from his shotgun as he scrambled to his feet, catching Kallux's ankle as he jumped. Kallux let out a roar of pain, but easily made the jump and tumbled into the Kodiak, sending it swaying to the side from his weight.

"We're in! Go!" Will shouted to Shansa.

"Close that hatch," Shansa replied as the Kodiak's thrusters roared to life once again.

Eleena reached up and ordered the door shut as the shuttle tilted up and sped away from the surface of the moon.

"Did you fix the trigger?" Eleena asked as Will turned and offered her a hand up.

She grabbed the hand thankfully and pulled himself up as Will replied. "Had to improvise."

Eleena and Will turned to help up Kallux as the krogan winced in pain from his bleeding leg. "Hate the damned Blood Pack," Kallux muttered.

Will activated his omnitool to prep a dose of medi-gel. "Who doesn't?"

"Damn!" Eleena exclaimed as she stared at the viewscreen on the wall of the shuttle.

Will looked up to see that the rear-facing camera had captured an enormous explosion erupt from the Blood Pack base as the Kodiak sailed into the sky above it. He let out a sigh of relief that the blowtorch had stayed lit long enough to ignite the spreading gas.

Kallux laughed. "How the hell did-"

"Like I said," Will answered as he applied the medi-gel to the krogan's ankle. "We improvised."

"We'll be at the ship in about a minute," Shansa called from the cockpit.

Will stepped to the door and leaned into the cockpit. "Your timing couldn't have been better on that exfil, Shansa."

"Thank you, thank you," the redhead replied with a beaming smile as her hands danced across the flight controls. "Though it sounds like someone on the crew needs to read up on explosives."

Will smirked and stepped back into the cabin as the Kodiak approached the opening cargo bay door. The shuttle slipped into the cargo airlock with ease and hovered patiently as the atmosphere automatically vented into the chamber. As the inner door opened Shansa piloted the Kodiak into the cargo bay and over to the custom-built docking armatures with incredible speed and precision. Will let out a satisfied sigh as he jumped from the Kodiak to the deck of the _Hyperion_ and slid the helmet from his head. He took in a deep breath of the recycled air and turned to watch as the others stepped down behind him. Eleena, Kallux, Tul and finally Shansa exited the craft before Will reached up and shut the hatch behind them with a nod.

"Nicely done, everyone," Will commended while they removed their helmets as he did and began walking to the far wall of the cargo bay.

"It could have gone a bit smoother," Tul'Sorrin noted.

Shansa grinned. "That's an understatement."

"Hey, we recovered pretty damn well if you ask me." Will stopped as he reached his locker and set his M-15 on its rack.

The others lined up to either side of him and did the same with their weapons. The new "armory" that they had installed in the cargo bay was working out well so far. Everyone had hated having to suit up in the crew's quarters. Will set his helmet into place and began pulling off the rest of his armor piece by piece; it was the first time out with the new set and he had hoped they might see some action to break it in. Unfortunately, the fight had come at a terribly inconvenient time. Still, for the amount of credits he had put down on the set of Devlon Industries armor he was fairly sure that a test run wouldn't necessarily be needed. He slid the chest piece into place on the rack at the center of his locker and smiled lightly into his reflection as it shone back in the deep red composite metal. He finished removing the rest of his suit quickly and stepped back, stretching his arms and legs.

"I'm gonna get us out of orbit and set course for Omega," Shansa called as she skipped off toward the forward hall.

"Sounds good," Will replied as he looked to the side and watched as Kallux began stripping his cannon for its maintenance.

Tul'Sorrin stood leaning against his locker beside Will's. "I feel I should remind you, Captain, that we did not escape completely unscathed."

Kallux looked down to his ankle and shrugged. "It's fine. Barely even bleeding."

"Not you," Tul corrected him. "Will left my blowtorch to be vaporized."

"Ahh, improvisation," Eleena chimed in. "Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, Tul."

Will grinned and gave Tul and slap on the shoulder. "I'll head to the market as soon as we dock."

"I appreciate it. I'll come along and make sure it's a good one," Tul replied as he began walking toward the door. "Now if you don't mind, I've got some work to do."

"Have at it," Will called to him.

"Mind if I join you in the market?"

Will turned and looked to the far locker where Eleena was removing the last piece of her armor while looking to him with a raised brow.

"Not at all," Will replied with a smile.

"Good." Eleena shut the door to her locker. "I need to pick up a few things for the port thruster. Fuel governor has been acting up again."

"_Course set," _Shansa reported over the comms. _"Should be about six hours."_

"Just enough time for some rest," Kallux mentioned from his workbench. "Too bad I've gotta work on this thing."

"We'll head to Discharge after the markets. Get you some of that battery acid you krogan call alcohol," Will grinned and glanced to Eleena. "El, you in?"

"Sounds good," Eleena replied. "I'm gotta hit the engine room."

"And I've gotta do some work in the loft," Will grumbled. "Come get me if anyone needs anything."

* * *

The drone of the ship as it flew comfortably in its FTL jump was always a relaxing sound to Will. He stared down at the datapad in his lap with his eyes half-closed, unaware that he had become lost in his own thoughts. He had been looking over the list of potential missions that Kallux had forwarded to him when he began thinking about the state of the ship, as he often did. Every mission the crew had completed over the five months since dealing with Sommesh had made them more cohesive than the last and Will was feeling more confident about their abilities by the day. He felt a sense of pride as he thought about all they had done so far as well as the fact that he felt more accomplishment in the past few months than he had in the six years he spent making cargo runs. As his mind continued to wander a set of two knocks rang out from the hatch in the corner of the loft.

Will snapped out of his thoughts and looked up from his datapad. "It's unlocked."

The handle twisted to the open position before the hatch was pushed up to allow Eleena's light purple hands to reach up and pull herself through the hole in the floor. She quietly climbed into the small room and knocked the hatch shut with her foot. Eleena adjusted the satchel that slung over her shoulder as she turned and looked to Will as he lounged on the couch.

"How's the work going?" The asari stepped toward where he sat and crossed her arms.

Will picked up the holopad and tossed it to the side. "That answer your question?"

She eyed him with a small smirk. "Glad you're taking care of all of that boring crap for the rest of us."

He shrugged and pulled himself to his feet with a smile. "If there are sacrifices to be made you can rest assured that I'll be there to... consider them." Will looked her up and down quickly. "So, I'm guessing you're here for more?"

Eleena grinned slyly. "I might be."

"Well you know I can't just give it to you for free." Will smirked, holding back a smile.

The asari rolled her eyes with a smile and reached into her bag to produce an old, hard-cover book then hold it out to him. Will took the book with a wink and turned back to the shelf on the wall behind him, sliding it into place and scanning the row of books for another.

"I'm almost out of new ones," Will lamented. "Pretty soon the only reason you'll have to come up here is to spend time with me."

Eleena smiled as she watched him look across the bookshelf. "Don't sound so fuckin' repulsed by the idea."

"That couldn't be further from how I feel," Will replied as he pulled a relatively thin book from the shelf. "Looks like we'll be diving into some science fiction this time."

Eleena frowned slightly in disappointment at the change in subject but smiled as he turned back to face him. "Oh?"

"Yeah, one of my favorites when I was a kid. _The Martian Chronicles._" He smiled down at the worn cover. "I'm glad human space exploration didn't go quite the way Bradbury imagined."

"Yet another depressing human novel?"

"Oh not at all," Will grinned. "It's a series of short stories."

Eleena smiled appreciatively as Will held out the book to her. "Thanks, Will."

"Of course." He nodded as Eleena grasped the book and gently slid it into the satchel at her side. "You wanna sit for a little while? I'm kinda just wasting time up here alone."

"Sure, why not." The asari removed her bag and set it beside the couch as she dropped down with a sigh.

Will slid onto the couch beside her and leaned his head back. "Good work today. I was a little worried about you and Kallux going up against the entire Blood Pack."

"Sheesh, have a little faith," Eleena scolded jokingly. "You should have seen Kallux about ten seconds before you all showed up. I don't think I've ever seen someone so damned calm while mowing down a dozen vorcha."

"It's a little weird sometimes," Will agreed. "We won the fucking lottery finding him."

Eleena chuckled to herself. "Have I ever told you about the krogan I served on a ship with that was the exact opposite of Kallux?"

Will grinned lightly at the prospect and looked over to her. "I don't think so. Wouldn't that just be a normal krogan?"

"You'd think so," she admitted. "But I swear I have never seen someone so stupid, hot-headed and easy to piss off than this guy. This was about fifty years ago when I was serving on a turian Triumph class cargo hauler. The ship had a security detail and this krogan, Grakull (we just called him Grak), was nothing short of the biggest nightmare you could imagine. One day I'm walking to engineering with a bunch of supplies and he walks straight into me. My stuff goes everywhere and I tell him he needs to watch where the fuck he's going."

"Sounds like you," Will commented with a laugh. "I'm sure that went over well."

"Oh, exceptionally well." Eleena shook her head. "The first thing he says is that he oughta kill me right then and there. Of course, I tell him to grow a fuckin' quad and fight me. He _roars_ and tells me to be in the cargo hold in ten minutes."

Will nodded with a growing smile. "So?"

"So, I go to the first mate, Tarsus, and tell him that he needs to officiate a fight. He agrees with a laugh and we head down to the cargo bay." Eleena sighed and rolls her eyes. "As expected, Grak was pacing back and forth _steaming_ with rage. Tarsus says that he's just there to make sure we don't kill each other and that there's only one rule: no weapons. Grak happily agrees and tells me that he's going to beat me into a new shade of purple." She laughed and shrugged. "He must have spent the whole ten minutes thinking up that line."

Will raised his brows, waiting for her to continue.

"Tarsus yells, 'Go!' or something like that and before I know it Grak is lowering his head and charging at me at full speed. I did a quick dodge to the side and turned around to blast him with a biotic charge." Eleena grinned at the thought. "The momentum of his charge combined with the impact of mine sent him flying into the wall so hard that his crest split the damn wall paneling apart. I have never heard a turian laugh as hard as Tarsus did at that."

"Was Grak okay?" Will asked through a chuckle.

The asari crossed her arms and sat back with a cocky grin. "He was out for a day or so, but it didn't matter. He left the crew at the next stop without saying a word to me."

Will smiled and shook his head. "Hearing stories like that makes me wish I'd served on a ship with more than just Shansa and Captain Nieto."

Eleena put an arm over the back of the couch and tilted her head to the side. "You've still never told me why you left your colony to work on the _Hyperion_."

"Shansa and I kinda... had to." He shrugged and looked away. "I'd rather not get into it right now."

"Sure." Eleena nodded understandingly. It was the same answer every time. "But, you know, if you ever need to talk or something..."

Will looked up with a small smirk. "How hard was that for you to say?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly and grinned. "Hey, I'm not incapable of being there for my friends."

After a small silence he looked to her with a sad smile. "Remind me again why I shouldn't kiss you?"

"Will..." Eleena's grin faded as she averted her gaze. "I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely. "I can't deal with something like that right now. With anyone."

"I know," Will quickly responded. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry if I'm being a fucking tease or leading you on."

"Hey, don't be ridiculous," he objected. "Spending time with a friend doesn't have to have any implications. And I promise I'm not pretending there are any."

Eleena looked back to him with a small smile. "You're a good friend, Will. Definitely too good for me."

"You know that's not the case," Will assured her.

The asari looked to her satchel and scooped it into her hand as she stood and looked down to him with the same regretful smile. "I should get back to engineering... finish up that..."

"Sure," Will agreed before she could finish. "Still on for the markets?"

She nodded and turned to open up the hatch. "Count on it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 2**

_**Sharah Market, Tilno District, Omega**_

"Tul, I hate to say it, but we might not be able to find a gold-plated blowtorch."

Will glanced over to the quarian as they sifted through a trough of assorted tools. Tul'Sorrin picked up a box and looked it over carefully until he found the specifications printed on the bottom.

"I'm just looking for the right one," the quarian replied as he popped open the container.

The quarian plucked the miniature blowtorch from the box and looked it over carefully. He ran his fingers across the dial that controlled the gas flow and nodded slowly to himself.

"This will do," Tul declared.

Will looked to the merchant and motioned toward the box to indicate their decision. The turian nodded and tapped away at the monitor on the counter between them.

"Hundred and fifty six credits," the turian stated as he looked to the human and quarian.

With a quick tap on the payment screen Will completed the transaction and turned back to Tul. "Hope it's worth it."

Tul'Sorrin slid the blowtorch into the slot on his thigh and tossed the box into a receptacle as they turned and walked from the stall. "You know I was only joking about making you pay for that."

"Don't worry, I didn't," Will smirked. "We have a company account for a reason."

"We have a company account?" Tul chuckled. "Doesn't _that_ sound official."

"Did you think I was paying for the ship repairs out of my own pocket?" Will laughed as they headed down the block.

"Good point," Tul admitted.

Will stepped around a pair of arguing batarians as they made their way through the crowd and toward the supply store where they were to meet up with Eleena. One of them yelled angrily and pulled out a knife causing the other to stumble back in surprise and bump into Will. He stumbled and turned around to see the batarian brandishing his blade at the other who was now trying to scurry into the crowd and out of sight. As the armed batarian lunged forward to begin his chase, Will drew his sidearm and pointed it straight to the aggressor's chest. The other shoppers around them had gasped and begun yelling as they attempted to scramble away from the rapidly escalating situation.

"Put the knife away," Will ordered.

"Fuck you! That bastard stole my credit chit!" The batarian snarled angrily. "He's getting away!"

"Well that's a damn shame," Will shook his head mockingly. "Next time don't pull a knife when you're gonna run into a crowd. Lots of people with guns on this station and if you'd stabbed one on accident they probably wouldn't be as patient with you as I am."

The batarian sheathed his knife irritably and jumped past Will and into the crowd in pursuit of the thief. Will glanced around to the dozen curious observers before holstering his pistol and glancing over his shoulder to Tul.

"Come on, someone probably called security." Will grumbled as Tul stepped up to his side and they continued down the block.

After a quick minute of walking they reached a large stall that was swamped with customers. Will pushed his way past those waiting as he assured them that he was only looking for someone and not looking to buy. As he neared the counter Eleena's familiar voice broke over the mutterings of the crowd.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Those couplings should be five hundred a piece _tops._"

She had the tone that often arose when she encountered, in her own words, "shit that should not be put up with."

"Listen, sweetheart, these couplings are a hot item." The voice sounded human, which Will confirmed as he reached the counter and looked to his right where the attendant stood.

Tul squeezed up beside Will and glanced toward the asari and human a few feet down. "That was a mistake."

"Cut the crap and stop assuming that I don't know what I'm talking about, jackass." Eleena leaned over the counter slightly. "The extranet posting for your own damned shop shows a list price of four hundred and fifty. Do you honestly think that I don't know eight hundred credits a pop is fucking robbery?"

The human slunk back slightly and cleared his throat. "Alright, fine. Four fifty. How many do you need?"

"Six. I need them delivered to bay E-16." She reached over to the terminal and tapped at the transaction screen.

"Thanks for your business," the human spat passive-aggressively.

Eleena gave him a glare as she turned to head back into the crowd. She caught sight of Will and Tul and motioned for them to follow her out of the mass of waiting customers. Will tugged on Tul's shoulder to get his attention and squeezed his way back through the patrons until they reached the far less dense street. Eleena pushed a tottering volus aside as she stepped up beside them and nodded.

"Got the parts. Can't believe some of the shit these merchants try to pull." She rolled her eyes irritably.

"At least it was only about twenty-five hundred," Will countered.

Tul laughed. "And I felt bad about the price of the blowtorch."

Eleena shrugged and crossed her arms. "I just charged it to the company account."

Tul shook his head in disbelief. "Am I the only one who didn't know we had an account for business expenses?"

"What business expenses have you been making?" Will raised a brow.

"Well..." Tul'Sorrin paused and tapped his foot as he thought. "None so far. But I might have to!"

Eleena smirked as she attempted to change the subject. "The parts should be delivered in about an hour."

"An hour?" Will glanced to Tul and Eleena with a grin. "Sounds like we've got time for a drink."

"I could go for a shot or two," Eleena stated with a sigh.

Tul shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"I'm glad you all agree." Will turned and began to lead the others down the block and toward Discharge. "Because I already told Shansa and Kallux to meet us there."

* * *

Having just come off of a mission and long flight to port the crew had agreed to only a short stint at the bar. Will had gladly paid for the round of drinks and ensured Tul'Sorrin that he was in fact paying from his own pocket and not the group's. After a good hour of relaxation Eleena received a message on her omnitool informing her that her supplies had been delivered and the group reluctantly left the always bustling bar. Will walked at the head of the group as Shansa and Eleena debated over whether or not the latest ion drive released by Araxian Propulsion had any practical application. Meanwhile, Kallux and Tul'Sorrin discussed the latest news that the krogan had read about while waiting for the others to arrive at Discharge. Will eavesdropped passively on both conversations for a long while before they reached the street where their docking bay was located. He looked ahead to the airlock leading to the _Hyperion_ and squinted in confusion: standing to the side of the door was a pair of armored figures with their arms crossed and stern looks. The first, a turian, seemed to motion in the direction of the crew as they approached causing the second, a salarian, to nod in affirmation and speak something to his companion that Will was much to far away to hear.

"Hey," Will muttered to draw the crew's attention as he came to a halt. "We might have a situation here."

The friendly chatter behind him ceased as the others stopped at his side and directed their attention to the duo standing by the airlock.

"Oh dear," Shansa lamented. "Does anyone recognize them?"

No one responded.

Will looked to the side where dozens of people hurried to and fro in the street. "I don't see any weapons on them."

"They might just wish to talk," Kallux reminded them. "We are listed in the RMC contact list."

"Look at the armor they're sporting," Eleena observed as she looked them over from afar. "They're decked."

It was true; the salarian and turian were dressed in what appeared to be military-grade armor. Will took a deep breath and began walking toward them just as he had before.

"I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. We're in a crowded street." Will glanced over his shoulder as the others walked with him. "But be ready to draw. You know, just in case."

Will and the rest of the crew approached the door cautiously as the two armored strangers turned to face them. As he got closer Will could see that the turian and salarian were, despite his first observation, armed with pistols at their sides. He hooked his thumb casually into his belt too keep it close to his concealed Carnifex.

"Waiting for someone?" Will called out to them as he slowed to a stop a few meters away.

"We might be," the turian answered. His voice rang of the cocky confidence that Will's often did. "Are you Captain William Hume?"

Will put on a straight face and raised his chin questioningly. "Who's asking?"

The salarian narrowed his eyes. "Agent Vayren."

"And Corsin Rentarius. We're Spectres." The turian looked over the group. "Mind if we have a little chat?"

Will's heart nearly skipped a beat. Since their run-in with Sommesh they had not attempted to enter Council space in fear that the "tip" sent by Commander Narek had been taken seriously. If it had, the _Hyperion_ and her crew could be wanted for smuggling prothean artifacts, a serious crime in the eyes of the Citadel Council.

"What about?" Will asked cautiously.

"We're not here to arrest you," Corsin stated bluntly. "We're here to make you an offer."

Will raised a brow. "That being?"

"We need guns and a ship for a mission," Vayren stated. "We're willing to pay for your services, of course."

"How much, exactly?" Tul'Sorrin piped in. "Because we do have a standard rate."

Corsin twitched his mandibles in amusement. "We'll pay double your normal rates in exchange for your cooperation and discretion. In addition, we can offer a slightly more unique form of compensation. A bonus, you might say."

There was a momentary pause as Will eyed them curiously. "And what sort of compensation is that?"

"A clean slate," Corsin answered. "Your ship and her crew are wanted criminals in Council space. As Spectres we have the power to change that quite easily."

Will looked to either side where is crew stood to gauge their opinions. He was met with mostly shrugs of "why not?" and turned back to the Spectres with a nod.

"Alright, let's talk."

"Might we do so in your docking bay?" Vayren inquired curtly and with no emotion.

"Sure," Will replied slowly.

The _Hyperion_ crew followed Will to the airlock while the Spectres stood at either side of his flank. He felt strange having so many eyes on him as he opened the door that led into the private docking bay where the _Hyperion_ waited. As they walked through the loading area he noted the crate of supplies that was no doubt the very same that Eleena had been waiting on. Will crossed the room and turned back to face the others as they entered behind him and formed a cluster at the center of the room.

"So what's the job?" Eleena asked as they stopped and looked to the Spectres.

Corsin glanced to Vayren who gave him a nod. "We've been assigned to apprehend or kill a dangerous criminal," Corsin began. "A turian arms manufacturer and dealer by the name of Narenthus Antarian. A few months ago he instigated a civil war on the planet Sharkeer to sell weapons to both the authoritarian dictatorship in power and the rebellion against it."

"This is a Terminus issue," Kallux interjected. "Why the hell is a pair of a Spectres investigating?"

"The Spectres were created to uphold galactic stability," Vayren countered sternly. "Our first concern is Council space, but we are also concerned about the well being of other systems."

Corsin chuckled to himself. "A noble thought, but allow me to be honest with both you and my partner. Sharkeer is a border world only a few hours flight from the Attican Traverse and a major asari colony. If Antarian is crazy enough to start a war for profit he's crazy enough to sell to the raiders that just love picking on colonies in the Traverse." The turian crossed his arms and looked to Will. "This is urgent matter and it's why we need a fireteam and ship."

Kallux let out a grunt of disapproval. "Then why not bring in turian or salarian soldiers?"

"The Council..." Vayren paused for a moment. "The Council has requested no military involvement of any kind. Understandable, given the opinion of Council governance in the Terminus Systems."

"It also helps to have people familiar with the Terminus Systems," Corsin added. "A rarity in most military organizations. That's where mercenaries come into play."

"Why us?" Will asked flatly. "There are plenty of merc groups on this station with more firepower and bigger ships."

"I suppose that would be my question to answer," Vayren began. "Five months ago I was assigned to observe and, if necessary, eliminate an organization that I believe you are intimately familiar with: Project Sommesh."

The _Hyperion_ crew shifted slightly at the name, their attention clearly captured.

"I monitored your struggle against them and I was impressed by your capabilities," the salarian continued as he crossed his hands over his waist and laced his fingers. "Your cooperation with the Red Moon Collective is also a point of interest. Spectres have been known to hire and even recruit from the organization."

"So you want us because you think we have morals?" Shansa asked curiously. "Didn't you just offer to clear our criminal records of a serious crime?"

Vayren let out a sigh. "I know very well that you did not intentionally smuggle any prothean artifacts. My specialty with the Spectres is gathering information and I can assure that I am very good at my job."

"Well it's comforting to know that you all don't take a batarian criminal's word at face value," Will admitted.

"_We_ don't," Corsin clarified quickly. "But the Council government doesn't have the time or interest in verifying the validity of every report."

Will snorted in disgust at the thought. "Well if you don't have anything else to add, I'd like to discuss this with my crew."

Corsin nodded. "By all means. Vayren and I will wait outside."

The Spectres made their exit quickly as Will and the rest of the crew watched. Once they had completely exited through the large door the five members of the _Hyperion_ crew looked to one another.

"Well that was... unexpected," Tul stated.

"Very," Will agreed. "Thoughts?"

Kallux shifted anxiously. "It seems a little strange to me. How do they even know this turian started that war on Sharkeer?"

"They might have evidence they didn't want to share yet," Shansa replied. "I mean... we didn't even accept the mission. There's probably a lot more information they don't want floating around."

"Maybe," Eleena muttered. "But I agree with Kallux, something doesn't feel right."

Will crossed his arms and nodded. "You're right, but think about what they're offering. Do you all really want to be wanted throughout Council space for the rest of your lives?"

"No... I don't," Tul'Sorrin admitted quietly. "I'd always wanted to visit the Citadel. Maybe just once."

The group fell silent as their eyes sank to the floor. Will looked to each of them as they stood quietly and contemplated the situation at hand.

"If we decide to work with them... who's going to be in charge?" Shansa looked up to Will as she spoke.

Eleena looked up. "Yeah, there's no way I'm doing this unless you're calling the shots, Captain."

Will smiled regrettably and looked to Kallux and Tul as they nodded in agreement. "I don't think that's an option here."

"Tell them we'll accept the job under the condition that you remain in charge," Kallux reiterated.

"Fine, but if they reject it-"

"Then we go back to doing what we do," Eleena interjected with a grin.

Will let out a sigh. "Alright."

He crossed the room and tapped the control console at the center of the door. Corsin and Vayren were standing at either side of the exit and looked over their shoulders as Will stood with a hand showing them back in. The turian turned and stepped through the door with Vayren just behind him.

"The crew has one condition if we accept this job," Will informed the Spectres as the turned and stood side by side. "I call the shots."

Vayren snorted indignantly. "Do you _honestly_ think that-"

"Shh shh," Corsin quickly held up his hand and looked to the salarian. "Let's try to be civil here, Vayren. You told me yourself that you noted Captain Hume as having exceptional leadership skills." The turian turned back to Will and stared the human down for a few long seconds of silence. "How about this: the three of us share equal power when laying out our plans. Majority rules. As for battle... Spectres usually operate alone. Even when we work as team, each Spectre is typically responsible for his or her own self. You command your squad as you normally would in a fight while Vayren and I adapt to your decisions." He glanced to the salarian. "Think you can handle that?"

Vayren sneered slightly. "Of course."

Will nodded confidently. "Alright, fine. We're on board."

"Good choice," Corsin informed him. "If it's alright with you, Vayren and I have some gear we must collect. What do you say to a meeting in two hours to discuss our first course of action?"

"Two hours," Will affirmed with a nod.

Vayren eyed Will closely. "Good, we'll be back with our supplies within the hour."

The Spectres gave Will and the crew a respectful nod before turning and exiting the docking bay through the large door once again.

"This is gonna be a fun one," Kallux commented with more than a hint of sarcasm. "I can tell already."

"I don't see how this could go wrong." Will turned back to face his crew with a grin. "We've got _Spectres_ on our side."

Eleena crossed her arms with a smirk. "Yeah, but we're gonna be going up against the people _Spectres_ tangle with."

Will's grin faded slightly. "Good point."

Tul'Sorrin shook his head. "Captain, I need access to that company account. There's no way I'm going into this without a new shield generator."

"Tul..." Will fell silent and bit his lower lip as he caved before he could even begin his argument. "I'll forward you the information."


	3. Chapter 3

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 3**

_**MSV Hyperion, Docking Bay E-19, Omega**_

Will and Kallux stood in the doorway of the cargo airlock with their arms crossed and shoulders leaning against the wall as they watched the Spectres haul their heavy trunks of equipment aboard. They had managed to fit all of their equipment into one container each, but Will had to imagine they both weighed a ton. Still, the Spectres brushed off Will and Kallux's offers to help from wherever they had been staying and elected to take two trips. Corsin and Vayren let out a grunt as the second heavy trunk was dropped down beside the first and they looked up to Will.

"That's it," Corsin informed him.

"Great," Will replied with a curt nod.

He turned and pressed his finger to the control panel that shut the outer airlock door and began the decontamination sequence. Vayren glanced up as the white mist filled the chamber.

"I didn't expect this ship to have such a robust scrubbing system," the salarian commented.

"It's got more than that," Kallux added. "We've modified the cargo bay to better fit our work." The krogan took a step toward them an extended a hand. "Kallux, by the way."

Corsin accepted the gesture and nodded professionally. "Well met. If Vayren's observations on your crew are correct, you might be the first krogan I'll actually be able to work with."

"I'll take that." Kallux narrowed his eyes slightly. "I've had more insulting greetings."

"Agent Rentarius and I haven't been working together for very long," Vayren began as he shook Kallux's hand after Corsin released it. "Otherwise he would know that my observations are always correct."

The inner door hissed and slid apart. Corsin and Vayren stepped up to the threshold of the airlock and looked across the large room. At the very center was the Kodiak and its docking mechanism which kept it secure. Beyond it, on the far wall, was the row of lockers and weapon racks that had also been a recent addition. On the forward wall were the workbenches and storage devices that had been a part of the ship since as long as Will and Shansa had been on the crew. After the crew had installed the "armory" on the port-side wall, Kallux had moved all of his equipment that had once been on the forward wall and left Eleena to stake claim to all of the precious space. By now, a few months later, the entire forward wall was covered in tools, spare parts and other engineering paraphernalia.

Corsin nodded approvingly. "This is actually rather well organized. And the shuttle has had some modifications as well, it appears."

"Quite a few, actually," Will stated as he stepped from the wall to one of the trunks. "Let's get this stuff in. We've got five lockers you can choose from."

Corsin and Vayren turned around to see Will and Kallux positioning themselves by their trunks and hurried to assist them. Corsin grabbed onto his crate-sized locker with Will and, despite the weight, they hoisted it up with relative ease. Vayren and Kallux did the same with theirs and followed the human and turian into the cargo bay as Corsin eyed the row of lockers. He decided on the aft-most locker after walking a few steps past the Kodiak and guided them to his choice promptly. Will and Corsin sat the trunk down in front of the locker and small weapon bench that accompanied it as Kallux and Vayren did the same directly beside them.

"You two want the tour now or later?" Will crossed his arms as he watched the Spectres examine their work-spaces briefly before looking to him.

"Now," Vayren replied. "I'd like to get a feel for the layout."

"I've got some work to do," Kallux informed them as he approached his own workbench. "I'll sit out the tour."

Will nodded in affirmation and motioned for the Spectres to follow him as he turned and headed toward the door on the aft wall. "The ship's not terribly complex," he admitted. "It was one of the first human designs during our galactic expansion."

Corsin nodded to himself as his eyes scanned the interior of the cargo bay carefully. "I noticed. It doesn't resemble many other human silhouettes."

"This thing was designed when the stars were still romantic and mysterious," Will stated with a hint of sadness. "Before we really knew about everything out there." He looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "Like you."

"Sorry for the disappointment," Corsin mused.

"Not everything was a letdown." Will grinned as they stepped through the door to the engineering compartment. "Eleena, you in here?"

"Yeah, hold on!" Her voice sounded from down the small hallway leading to the port thruster.

The Spectres filed in and observed the workings of the engineering compartment as Eleena hurried into the center chamber, wiping her hands on her jumpsuit as she entered. The asari placed her hands on her hips and glanced to the turian and salarian before turning her attention to Will.

"How's the work going?" Will peered over her shoulder to the port thruster as he asked.

"Almost done. We should be ready to fly in a few minutes." Eleena gave him a smirk. "Assuming you let me finish my work."

"We won't linger," Will assured her. "But I think you all should probably get introduced properly." He stepped to the side and nodded to the asari. "Corsin, Vayren, this is Eleena, our engineer. She's also a damn good shot and rather potent biotic."

"'Rather' potent?" Eleena crossed her arms and gave Will a glance.

"Very," Will corrected with a smirk.

Corsin gave a nod and looked her up and down as if assessing her strength. "I look forward to seeing you in action."

"And I look forward to seeing your skills in person," Vayren added. "Not just on security vids."

"Uh, yeah." Eleena looked between the two Spectres before returning her attention to Will. "Mind if I get back to work?"

"Go for it," Will replied with a smile.

"Thanks." She gave an acknowledging nod to Vayren and Corsin as she turned and headed back down the cramped passageway.

Will motioned the Spectres along as he stepped back through the door to the cargo bay and walked toward the forward hall.

"Not the most personable member of the crew I hope." Vayren muttered.

"She's plenty personable if she trusts you," Will informed them. "You've just gotta earn it."

"Can't say I disagree with that," Corsin replied as they stepped into the forward hall.

Will turned to the left and into the crew's quarters where Tul'Sorrin sat at his workspace. The quarian had claimed one of the unused walls of the room to fill with a computer system he could use for information tracking, surveillance and his own personal work. Tul sat in his chair tapping away at the holopad that extended from the row of monitors, unaware of the others as they entered behind him. Will eyed the quarian as he crossed the room to the kitchenette and retrieved a glass to fill with water while the Spectres stood by the door and observed the room the same as they had done to all those before.

"Working on something?" Will asked as he filled his glass.

"Just some translator work," Tul answered as he leaned forward to examine the closest screen.

Will turned from the kitchen and took a large gulp of water as he stepped up behind Tul's chair and looked over the screen. "Anything specific?"

The quarian nodded and made a few quick corrections to a line of code. "Yes. Asari to krogan." He swiped a window to another screen as if to save it for later. "Trying to weed out this bug in my colloquialism algorithm."

"What is this, exactly?" Corsin asked curiously as he walked from the doorway to where Will stood.

Tul glanced over his shoulder to see the Spectres and shook his head. "Oh, my apologies." He locked his system, stood and turned to face Corsin. "I'm an omnitool translator engineer. Though it's mostly just something to kill time now."

Vayren crossed the room to join them. "Interesting. I assumed you were merely the technical expert for the team."

"Well I suppose that _is _my role with the crew." Tul extended a hand to whichever Spectre would take it. "Tul'Sorrin vas Hyperion. And you are Corsin Rentarius and Vayren, yes?"

Corsin took the hand and gave it a single, firm shake. "Good memory."

"So I've been told," Tul stated as he released the turian's hand and took hold of the salarian's.

Will crossed his arms. "Tul'Sorrin is our main strategist. He spends a lot of time on recon and sometimes stays back on the Kodiak to coordinate our missions."

"I have a feeling we will be working together quite a bit," Vayren informed the quarian. "I work primarily as an infiltrator. As you can imagine that requires a certain level of technical knowledge."

Tul'Sorrin gave Will a glance. "Do you realize how much easier our reconnaissance will be with Spectre authority to get into private databases?"

"I can guess," Will replied as he finished his glass of water and handed it to Tul. The quarian looked down to the glass as Will turned and headed to the doorway.

"Yes, well," Tul began as he set the glass on the table beside him. "I look forward to working with you." Tul'Sorrin nodded to the Spectres as they turned to follow Will out.

"Likewise," Corsin replied as they exited to the hallway.

Will motioned to the door across the hall. "That's the bunkroom. There are five empty beds so you're welcome to whichever you'd prefer."

Before waiting for a response he turned and stepped up to the cockpit door. Inside, Shansa was lounging in the pilot's seat with her feet folded up underneath herself as she read over a long list of pirate attack reports. Will ducked his head in and tapped her shoulder with his outstretched arm.

She gave a small jump and turned quickly to look over her shoulder. "Oh! Hey!"

"Hey," Will smiled. "Come out for a second, I wanna introduce you to our... illustrious guests."

"Sure!" She spun the seat and popped to her feet as Will stepped back into the hall.

"Vayren, Corsin," Will looked from the Spectres to Shansa. "This is Shansa Fischer, our helmswoman and navigator."

"It's nice to meet you!" She gave the turian and salarian a warm smile. "Thanks for not arresting us, by the way."

Corsin's mandibles twitched in amusement. "So you pilot the ship. What about the Kodiak?"

"Most of the time," she answered happily. "It was pretty easy to get a feel for."

"I've flown a few myself." Vayren crossed his arms. "Easy to fly is not how I would describe them."

Will placed his hand on Shansa's shoulder and grinned. "Shansa isn't your average pilot."

Shansa's cheeks flushed slightly and her foot tapped absentmindedly. "Don't over-hype me! I don't want a reputation I can't live up to."

"If you can fly this obsolete thing then I'm sure you're ahead of the curve," Corsin complimented smoothly.

"Heh, thanks." Shansa glanced to Will. "So do we have a destination?"

"Actually, I think we were about to discuss that," Will replied as he looked to the Spectres. "What do you say?"

"Yes. We have limited time." Vayren's black eyes stared to Will expectantly.

Will looked back to Shansa. "I'll let you know as soon as we've got something."

"Okay." She waved to the turian and salarian. "Nice meeting you!"

"The same to you," Corsin replied.

Shansa turned back to the cockpit door and ducked through as Will quickly headed to to the bunkroom with the Spectres in tow. He stepped through the door and walked to the large table the crew had installed at the center of the previously barren room. Will rounded the table and placed his hand on the surface and the built-in holographic control panel.

"Holo-projector is here if we need it," Will began as he activated the projector at the center of the table. "We usually use it when we're looking through schematics or blueprints for infiltration. We also watch vids on it before bed sometimes."

Corsin stood on the opposite side of the table and nodded in approval. "I'm becoming more impressed by your resources every minute."

"I agree. Truth be told, I was rather apprehensive about the idea of hiring a group of mercenaries," Vayren noted as he stepped up beside Corsin.

"We try to be a bit more than just your average merc company." Will smirked as he subdued his pride from the compliment. "So, where do we start?"

"First, I should lay down everything we know." Corsin let out a sigh. "Which, sadly, is not much. I've been assigned to this case since Antarian sparked the civil war on Sharkeer four months ago." He paused briefly. "Vayren was added to the mission just a few weeks before we made contact with you. The Council decided the mission had increased in urgency after... Antarian instigated a war on a second world."

Will blinked and placed his hands on the table. "Two wars? You didn't mention that when you were trying to get us on board with your mission."

"It is still a sensitive issue," Vayren argued. "We could not tell you every detail of our assignment before you'd even agreed to assist us."

"How is he doing this?" Will looked to either Spectre and shook his head. "How do you even know Antarian is behind it?"

Corsin let out a frustrated sigh. "The Council supposedly has evidence supporting these claims, but they are unwilling to release it."

"That's fucking ridiculous," Will laughed. "How can they expect you to do this when they're holding back information that could help us find him?"

"They have their reasons," Vayren assured him. "Our job is to find Antarian, not argue with the Council about how. And if the Council had information that would help us find him they would not be holding onto it."

Will rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. Corsin, you were saying?"

The turian nodded. "Before Vayren was added to the assignment the only leads I had were the locations of two of Antarian's weapon manufacturing plants. I've already been to both of them and I recovered the location of a possible third during my investigation."

"Great, let's start there." Will looked to both of them with a nod.

"That's not all," Vayren quickly interjected. "I did some digging after my reassignment and turned up a bit of interesting information. Are you familiar with the Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission?"

Will shook his head. "I can't say I am."

"The CDEM is the unit in charge of security in the Krogan DMZ. They have the right to search and document anyone that travels to or from the Aralakh Relay." The salarian grinned slightly. "During an info sweep I found something in the CDEM's records. Ships registered to Antarian made regular deliveries to Tuchanka for years, and I know where and to whom their cargo was delivered. The only thing I don't know is what was in that cargo."

"That's great, but how does that help us?" Will raised a brow.

"It doesn't," Corsin replied flatly. "We should head to the facility I discovered."

"I disagree," Vayren argued sternly. "You uncovered no useful information at the first two locations; it's time to try a different approach. And if we find nothing on Tuchanka, your plan remains as an option."

The Spectres looked to Will. He sighed as he realized he would be making the majority that they had agreed upon.

Will looked down and took a deep breath. "Tuchanka. We'll head there first and see what we can find."

Corsin sighed and nodded. "Fine. Tuchanka it is."

"Excellent." Vayren smiled to himself.

"I'll tell Shansa to set a course as soon as Eleena's finished her work on the thrusters." Will walked around the table to where the Spectres stood. "Assuming you two are ready."

Corsin laughed and turned for the door. "Ready? We're Spectres, Captain Hume. We're always ready."

* * *

Will had to repeat himself twice when telling Shansa to set a course for Tuchanka. The _Hyperion_ had only made a handful to journeys into Council controlled space since Will and Shansa had taken over, and both of them were excited by prospect. After the ship had disembarked from Omega and Shansa had locked in a flight path to the relay she, opened up the star map and began looking over the Aralakh System carefully. Even now, hours later, she continued to read through navigation charts and Citadel Travel Advisory Reports in search of every last scrap of knowledge on the system. Will had partaken in the research for a few of those hours before leaving Shansa to her investigations and heading off to the cargo bay.

He exited the forward hall and looked around the large room in search of a conversation. Kallux stood over his workbench, diligently tweaking the mechanics of his gear as though he was the adjustment of a capacitor away from unlocking a level of power never before reached by a shield generator. Earlier Will had gathered Kallux, Eleena and Tul to inform them of their destination and was met by slight apprehension from Tul and Eleena. Kallux, curiously, remained silent as Will assured the asari and quarian that Tuchanka was their most promising option. The fact that Kallux had neither openly approved of nor rejected the course of action did not sit well with Will. He bit his lip slightly and crossed the room to where the krogan stood over his workbench.

"Making any progress?" Will eyed the scattered components in front of Kallux.

The krogan smirked slightly as he made a tiny adjustment on an exposed circuit board. "You know the answer to that."

"Why do you do it then?" The human turned and leaned against the locker beside the krogan. "You spend a _lot_ of time taking this stuff apart and putting it back together."

Kallux inspected the circuitry carefully before picking up a piece of metal casing and placing it to cover the hole in the shield generator. "I find it relaxing. You could call it a hobby."

"You know there's plenty of gear around if you want to get your hands on something new," Will suggested with a smile.

"Kind offer," Kallux replied sincerely. "I wouldn't want to cause any damage, though. Especially if it's you, Eleena, Tul or Shansa that might pay the price."

Will shrugged. "I'm not using my old set of armor. I'll grab it from the storage locker later."

The krogan glanced over to Will. "I... sure. Thanks."

"So, we've got our first mission set," Will mentioned. "Tuchanka."

Kallux looked back to his workbench and nodded as he picked up the shield generator and placed it onto a rack containing five others just like it. He adjusted its placement very slightly before turning to face Will and crossing his arms.

"Tuchanka," Kallux repeated with wandering eyes.

Will glanced over his shoulder in search of whatever Kallux was looking for. The cargo bay was empty.

"How long's it been?" Will raised a brow as he looked back to the krogan.

"Four hundred years?" Kallux narrowed his eyes slightly. "It might be closer to four hundred and fifty, now. I lost track."

"You lost track?"

"I left the planet and my clan on fairly bad terms," the krogan answered with little emotion. "Since then I've had no reason or desire to return."

"Oh," Will furrowed his brow slightly. "I'm sorry. I probably should have spoken to your first before deciding on a course of action."

Kallux gave a small shrug. "I don't object to the idea. Like I said, I didn't have a reason to return. Now I do."

Footsteps rang out from the forward hall as the Spectres walked into the cargo bay, nodding and talking between one another. Will looked over Kallux's shoulder and caught sight of the turian and salarian before looking back to the krogan and leaning in closer.

"I don't know how a turian and salarian are going to go over on the krogan homeworld..." Will looked up to Kallux worriedly.

"If worse comes to worst we can send them back to the ship," Kallux grinned. "I'm sure you, me and Eleena can handle things on the ground just fine."

"I wouldn't object to that." Will glanced toward the Spectres as they approached. "I'm counting on you to have my back down there, Kallux."

Kallux narrowed his eyes and nodded. "I've got your back as long as you've got mine, Captain."

"You, Shansa, Eleena and Tul can count on it." Will nodded in return as the Spectres passed, talking between themselves. "We're meeting to discuss the mission an hour before we hit the Aralakh relay. I want you there."

"Wouldn't miss it," the krogan replied with a grin.

"Good." Will straightened his jacket and stepped past him and back toward the forward hall. "But for now, I've got some old armor to dig up for you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 4**

_**MSV Hyperion, en route to Aralakh System**_

It had been barely over a day since the Spectres were cautiously welcomed aboard the _Hyperion_ by her crew and, much to Will's chagrin, disputes had already arisen. A few hours after setting course for the relay to the Aralakh System the crew collectively retired to their beds to ensure that they would be rested and ready for a long day once they hit Tuchanka. A few hours later, a personal alarm woke Eleena to remind her about checking the repairs she had made earlier. However, as she was walking to the engine room she caught Corsin poking around by the Kodiak. Will begrudgingly pulled himself from a comfortable slumber to mediate the dispute over whether or not Corsin had any business inspecting the modifications made to the shuttle. Eleena, of course, was suspicious that the turian had been up to no good despite the fact that Corsin had done nothing but make note of the additional hardware and how it might benefit the mission.

"You're not making the best first impression by sneaking around behind our backs," Eleena claimed.

Corsin crossed his arms indignantly. "And you are? I've got the notes on my omnitool right here if you want them, but I doubt it has what you're looking for. You might be disappointed by the lack subterfuge."

"My god," Will muttered with his eyes half shut. "Eleena, just let him gather his data. You think he's gonna sabotage our Kodiak just by knowing that Tul modified the weapons management firmware?"

Eleena narrowed her eyes angrily. "Well excuse me for-"

"I'm not done," Will interrupted. "Agent Rentarius, Corsin, whatever you want to be called, we rarely get guests on board so I understand Eleena's concern. Could you just ask next time? I'd have gladly given you a complete list of the modifications to the Kodiak and anything else relevant." He let out a sigh and looked to each of them. "We're working as a team here, you know."

The asari glanced to Corsin. "Fine, Captain's right. But you'd better know that just because we're working together doesn't mean I can trust you right off the bat."

Corsin remained silent for a moment before nodding in response. "Fair enough. Hopefully we can prove ourselves to one another in the next few days." The turian shook his head regrettably. "Spectres don't usually rely on a team, but we're gonna need tight cohesion if Antarian's as dangerous as the Council thinks he is."

"Here's hoping it works out." Eleena looked to Will. "Sorry... about waking you up, Will."

He shrugged and turned to shuffle back to the bunkroom. "It's fine. Now don't kill each other before I can make up this lost sleep."

Five hours later, Will slid out of his bunk and stumbled to the unoccupied head to take a quick shower before he had to meet with Corsin and Vayren to plan the mission. The shower was a bizarre combination of senses: the water was almost scalding-hot, and the showerhead released a stream so thin it might as well have been a mist. This caused him to wince as the hot water hit his face and chest, but shiver as it cooled by the time each droplet had reached his legs. Nonetheless, he knew well enough to appreciate luxuries whenever he got the chance and did his best to enjoy this. He dried and dressed himself in thin clothes he would wear beneath his armor before returning to the bunkroom and catching sight of Tul'Sorrin as he stretched in front of his bunk.

"Bleh, am I the last one up again?" Tul looked down the line of bunks recessed into the wall.

Will smirked as he raised his finger and worked a drop of water from his ear. "Ready for Tuchanka?"

"Are you kidding? I can't think of another place in the galaxy I'd rather visit," Tul'Sorrin replied with sarcasm so thick it made Will wonder for a moment if he had been sincere.

"I'm actually kind of excited." Will walked to the table at the center of the room and pulled up his notes on the holoscreen. "Best case scenario? We see a new place, get our intel, and get out without a hitch."

"When did you become an optimist?" Tul mused as he crossed the room to the door.

"Woah, woah, let's not throw around any crazy accusations here," Will looked up with a grin. "I never said I was _expecting_ the best case scenario."

Tul looked back and wiped the top of his mask jokingly as though it were his brow. "Oh, good. For a second there I thought you were changing on me."

Will's eyes widened as the quarian stepped through the bulkhead to the hall."Tul-!"

It was too late. Tul, who had been looking back to Will, had walked straight into Shansa as she browsed through her omnitool and nibbled on a seela fruit. Shansa had turned from the hallway to the bunkroom on a dime, giving Will no time to warn them of the impending collision.

"Oof!" Shansa jumped in surprise.

The asari fruit slipped from her grasp and plummeted unceremoniously to the ground, landing with a tiny thump.

"Keelah!" Tul put his hand over his chest as if his heart had skipped a beat. "Shansa, I'm so sorry."

The redhead had stumbled back a step or two but quickly recomposed herself. "No, no! It's my fault. I need to watch where I'm walking... I'm still not used to having anyone other than Will around."

Tul knelt to the ground and retrieved the mushed and dirtied fruit. "A casualty before we've even begun our first mission."

Will looked between his notes and the pair in the doorway with a small smile.

"He served us well," Shansa lamented as she plucked the seela fruit from Tul's fingers and tossed it into the waste receptacle on the wall beside the door.

Tul'Sorrin stepped to the side with a nod. "After you. I insist."

She gave him a warm smile and stepped through the door, nodding her head in thanks. Tul turned and exited to the hall as Shansa looked to Will and approached the opposite side of the table from where he stood.

"I see you're finally awake," she jabbed.

Will smirked to himself but ignored the remark as he powered off the holoscreen and looked up to Shansa. "Need something?"

"Just wanted to let you know that we exited the relay jump about an hour ago." She pulled up her omnitool to check her numbers. "And we're about forty-five minutes from orbit over Tuchanka."

"Forty-five minutes? That's it?" He let out a sigh and pulled up his own omnitool. "Guess we'd better start our prep. Any word from the CDEM?"

Shansa shook her head. "You wouldn't believe it. We'd only been out of FTL for like ten seconds before we got hailed."

"They give you any trouble?"

"They didn't get the chance to," Shansa answered with a small laugh. "Somehow Vayren was already waiting behind me when the message came in. He sent them his Spectre security package and they just let us on our way."

Will chuckled as he finished sending out an omnitool message to the Spectres and Kallux. "Damn. Talk about efficiency."

"I know! And he was so sneaky about it!" Shansa lowered her voice slightly. "I almost jumped out of my seat when he opened the comm channel and replied."

"Well he does specialize in recon and infiltration." Will grinned and nodded to her. "Has the Kodiak been prepped?"

"Got a few nav-charts to update, but other than that she's ready to launch," Shansa replied. "Do we know where we're going?"

Will shook his head. "Not yet. But Vayren said he was in the process of pulling some information that might give us a place to start looking."

"Actually, I'm no longer in the process." Vayren stepped through the door and made his way to the table. "I've been sorting through the intel I received for the past hour or so."

Shansa looked to the salarian and then back to Will. "I... should go finish with the Kodiak."

"Alright. Good work so far, Shan." Will smiled regrettably as she turned to leave.

Corsin and Kallux appeared in the hallway and stood to the side of the door as Shansa darted past them and hurried off toward the cargo bay. The turian and krogan filed into the bunkroom and circled around the table. The Spectres glanced to Kallux at nearly the same moment and then back to one another as Will placed his hands on the table and leaned his weight onto his arms.

"I've asked the only member of our crew who grew up on Tuchanka to join us for this one." Will looked to his left where Corsin and Vayren stood. "I hope that won't be a problem."

"Not at all," Corsin replied casually. "I'm sure Kallux will have some valuable insight on any potential course of action."

"Mm," Vayren responded neutrally. "So this what I have so far." The holoprojector at the center of the table blinked to life as a model of Tuchanka appeared. "I requested the approximate landing zones of Antarian's vessels from the CDEM. They only had about a third of those landing zones on record, but I was able to cross-reference those with known clan presence on Tuchanka." A handful of markers popped up on the surface of the holographic planet. "That gives us a total of six clans that we can assume received shipments from Antarian at some point in the past few years."

"Do we know which ones might be the most cooperative?" Corsin inquired.

"Well, hopefully our krogan... friend, will be able to help us with that," Vayren answered as he looked to Kallux. "I'll run down the list."

The krogan stood with his arms crossed. "By all means."

The salarian nodded and looked down to the list on his omnitool. "Quash, Khel, Jorgal, Urdnot, Raik and Weyrloc."

Kallux shifted uneasily. "I wouldn't say any of them really jump out."

Will glanced to Kallux and raised a brow. "Kallux... aren't _you_ from clan Raik?"

The krogan grunted and looked to the side. "Unfortunately, yes."

"This is excellent." Corsin looked around the table. "My hypothetical best case scenario wasn't even this good. We already have an in with clan Raik."

"And what makes you assume that this is beneficial?" Kallux's gaze shifted to the turian. "I left Tuchanka with no desire to return and I made sure my clan knew that."

"Any connection is a good one," Vayren argued. "So long as they don't try to kill us on sight."

Will glanced to Kallux. "They won't, right?"

The krogan let out a sigh. "Would they try to kill me? No, probably not. But I don't know how receptive they would be to a salarian and turian." Kallux shook his head. "And Spectres, on top of that."

"We could leave them behind," Will suggested bluntly. "Let them stay in the Kodiak while you and I try to get in touch with Raik leadership."

Vayren crossed his arms defensively. "It's risky. What will you do if things turn hostile?"

Will shrugged. "Get out as fast as we can?"

"A flawless plan," Corsin remarked sarcastically.

"It's a better plan than marching a pair of genophage propagators into center of clan Raik," Kallux rebutted.

Vayren scoffed indignantly. "Agent Rentarius and I are hardly 'propagators of the genophage.'"

"That's not how most krogan think. They don't care who you are, just what you are." Kallux looked to Vayren and Corsin. "A salarian and a turian."

Corsin nodded lightly. "Sadly, you've made your point. But Vayren and I will be ready in case things go sour."

The others nodded in agreement as Kallux leaned forward to examine the image of Tuchanka floating above the holoprojector.

"Is this the location where deliveries were made?" Kallux pointed to the small marker labeled 'Raik.'

Vayren nodded in affirmation. "Yes, in the ruins of the city Rakarn."

"We called it the Bastion," Kallux noted.

"Raik's capital?" Will asked.

Kallux shook his head. "No, but just as important, if not more. It's Raik's staging area when attacking other clans." The krogan reached to the hologram and began indicating areas with his finger. "The Bastion is at the far-most western point of clan Raik's territory. To northeast is clan Jurdon. Due east, clan Urdnot. And southwest, Weyrloc." Kallux leaned back and stared in silence for a moment. "It's where clan Raik sends their whelps to become krogan."

"Oh, so you're saying it's a friendly neighborhood?" Corsin mused facetiously.

"What I'm saying is that I spent a lot of time there," Kallux responded flatly. "And Will and I are gonna have to be very, very careful."

"No objections here," Will added as he looked to the Spectres. "If things go well, we can be in and out before you know it. And if they don't..."

"That's what backup is for," Vayren finished.

* * *

Will closed his locker with a satisfying clunk after locking the last piece of his armor into place. He stepped back and looked to his right where Kallux was finishing his preparations before looking to his left to see Eleena, Corsin and Vayren doing the same. He watched Vayren curiously as the salarian looked over his primary weapon: a sniper rifle that Will believed to be an M-97 Viper. Will had been looking into buying a rifle like it for a few months now, but could never convince himself that he would actually use it in place of his M-15. Vayren, however, appeared to be a sniper by nature and adjusted the scope settings with ease before collapsing the rifle and sliding it onto his back. He drew his sidearm and checked its systems quickly before doing the same.

Where Vayren seemed to value precision and subtly, Corsin was geared up to provide the exact opposite. His armor was intensely heavy and thick, making him appear much larger than most turians. On his back was an exotic looking assault rifle that reminded Will of turian ships in terms of its hard edges and angular construction. A shotgun was positioned right beside it as well, reminding Will that he should take his to a shooting range on Omega and get some practice in with it. He was about to turn his attention away when a blue and purple glow emerged from Corsin's hands and caused Will to nearly stumble back in surprise. Eleena also caught the sight out of the corner of her eye and whipped her head to look at the turian in shock.

"What the hell?" Eleena looked the turian over. "You're a biotic?"

The biotic energy around Corsin's fists quickly subsided as he turned to face Will and Eleena. "Surprised?"

"I didn't even know it was possible," Will admitted.

"Just as possible as a human biotic," Corsin replied. "Just not as probable. And we're usually not as potent as most asari."

Eleena shook her head as she slid her SMG into the holster on her lower back. "I'm glad this came up now and not in the middle of a firefight."

"Same," Will agreed.

He looked back to his right where Kallux had finished his preparations and was sliding his cannon into its secure position on his back. Will could tell that the krogan was not thrilled about the decision to contact his clan, but Kallux understood the improbability of another clan offering to aid them. The ship gave a slight shutter and Shansa's voice echoed over the intercom.

"_We're docked! I'm coming back to start up the Kodiak."_

Vayren had managed to get in touch with one of the CDEM's orbital platforms and grant the _Hyperion_ access to one of their docking stations for the duration of their mission. Will was more than grateful for the opprotunity as it would let Shansa stay on the surface with the Kodiak without leaving the ship adrift in orbit, unoccupied. Will glanced to the doorway to the forward hall as Shansa came running through and straight toward the Kodiak. Tul'Sorrin was visible through the forward viewport of the shuttle working on setting up their communication arrays. They were hoping to get in touch with clan Raik before they hit the surface. Will turned back around to see Eleena, Kallux, Vayren and Corsin were all stepping up around him.

"Everyone ready?" Will looked around the squad.

With an affirmation from all of them, Will led the group to the Kodiak and climbed in, holding out a helping hand to each of them as they entered. Kallux was the last inside and closed the large hatch behind him as Will leaned into the cockpit and told Shansa to fire up the engines. The others strapped themselves into their seats as the shuttle jumped to life and eased into the airlock gracefully. Will could hear the atmosphere venting around them as the outer airlock door parted, only to have the noise replaced by the roar of the thrusters as Shansa blasted the Kodiak out of the _Hyperion_ and into orbit over Tuchanka. Will held onto the frame of the doorway leading into the cockpit as the Kodiak eased into a stable flightpath and turned toward the planet's surface.

Shansa looked through the forward viewport as they grew closer. "Wow. It's so... brown."

"That's Tuchanka for you," Tul noted from the copilot's seat. "I'm sending broad spectrum hails now, Captain."

"Good," Will replied as he watched Tuchanka through the window. "Let me know if you get anything."

The shuttle leveled off and raced toward the waypoint that indicated the location of Rakarn, the Bastion. Will was taken aback by the utter desolation of the scenery around them. Everyone knew Tuchanka was barren, but he hadn't understood what that really meant until now. Off on the western horizon the desert seemed to rise up hundreds of feet, as if they were traveling through a valley. To the east, however, the dirt and sand simply sank lower as far as the eye could see, leaving no ridge to complete the would-be valley.

"Enjoying the view?"

Will jumped slightly as he was pulled from his trance and looked to where Kallux stood beside him. "Yeah... I can't believe how empty it is."

Kallux smirked slightly as he looked out the viewport. "It's actually not as bad as you might think. Thousands of years ago that ridge to the west was a coastline."

Shansa looked over her shoulder. "Does that mean we're..?"

"In the Jalreek Sea. Once water, now sand." Kallux shook his head. "At least that's what history tells us."

The holoscreen in front of Tul'Sorrin began to blink. "Captain! We've got a transmission."

"Put us through," Will replied.

The quarian made a few quick adjustments so that the transmission would broadcast over the speakers in the cockpit. Static crackled through for a few moments as Tul honed in on the signal.

"_-odiak. Identify yourself. You are entering territory of clan Raik." _The voice was unmistakably krogan.

Will looked to Kallux who nodded in return and cleared his throat. "This is Raik Kallux, born of Shanarik, requesting permission to enter the Bastion."

A few seconds passed before the voice responded. _"Your Kodiak's ID isn't listed here."_

"I'm arriving from off-world. I seek an audience with the Bastion's kral," Kallux replied as he tapped a few buttons on his omnitool. "I've transmitted my identification data."

The pause before the next response was much longer._"Alright. We're transmitting the coordinates to your landing zone. Welcome back to the Bastion, brother."_

Tul'Sorrin cut the comms and plugging the coordinates into their nav console. The waypoint on the horizon adjusted slightly and Shansa ascended to bring the Kodiak up from the rolling dunes of sand.

Will looked to Kallux curiously. "What's a kral?"

The krogan closed his omnitool. "He oversees the Bastion and acts with the authority of the clan leader in his stead."

"Do you know him?" Shansa inquired as they leveled off a few hundred feet from the ground.

"I wasn't far enough up the ranks to know him personally," Kallux answered. "But it's been over five centuries. I wouldn't be surprised if someone new is in charge."

"Hey, look," Tul muttered.

They four of them stared through the viewport to see a skyline had appeared on the horizon along with buildings on the ridge to the west. As the Kodiak rapidly approached what could only be the ruined city of Rakarn, the shapes of fallen and destroyed superstructures became more and more apparent. Shansa pulled the Kodiak up higher to give them a better view of the city that had appeared out of nowhere. Rakarn was positioned on what must have been a peninsula before the sea was evaporated during the fallout of the krogan's ancient nuclear war. The Kodiak soared over the coastline and into the city where dirt, dust and sand flowed into the streets of the Bastion. Will could make out dozens of outposts and roadblocks accompanied by Raik soldiers and their massive transport vehicles known as Tomkahs.

"I'm bringing us down," Shansa informed them.

The Kodiak banked as Shansa lined the nose up with a collection of landing zones by what had once been docks stretching out into the bay of sand. She lined the shuttle up with one of the marked 'landing pads' and began the descent toward the ground. A group of krogan standing by a Tomkah started off toward them as the Kodiak set down and sent dust billowing into the air around them.

"Let's go, before they can see who else is on board," Kallux suggested.

Will nodded. "Shansa, Tul. Just wait here. Hopefully we won't take too long."

Tul'Sorrin continued to work at his console. "Understood, Captain."

"Be careful," Shansa looked over he shoulder as she killed the thrusters. "Both of you."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Will assured her as he turned and stepped into the main body of the shuttle.

Kallux stepped up to the rear bench where the Spectres sat and quickly began running over their contingency plan for what seemed like the tenth time.

Eleena had already unstrapped herself from the bench. "Think I should bring my helmet?"

"You're staying here," Will answered regrettably.

"What?" Eleena stood and placed her hands on her hips. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"The fewer non-krogan we have on this outing, the better." Will quickly glanced to the others as they talked and stepped up a little closer to her. "I'm counting on you to get us out if things go bad, okay?"

Eleena bit her lip slightly and looked to the side. "Alright. But don't hesitate to make the call."

"Hey." Will smiled as she glanced back to him. "I've got this."

"Hume, you ready?" Kallux called as he stepped up to the door.

Will gave Eleena one last nod of reassurance before turning to face the krogan. "Yeah, let's go."

Kallux opened the hatch and jumped to the dirt below them with Will right at his side. He quickly closed the door of the Kodiak behind them as his eyes involuntarily squinted in the blistering Tuchankan sun. He felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead after just a few seconds in the intense heat. Will stepped up to Kallux's side as a pack of four krogan approached them.

"Should we have left our guns in the shuttle?" Will asked nervously.

"They'd have assumed we were cowards," Kallux replied.

The krogan at the front of the group approaching them eyed Will. "You brought a human here."

Kallux nodded. "He fights with me. And he's worthy of Raik's respect."

The four krogan stopped a few feet away. The leader looked Will up and down slowly.

"I'll allow him for now." The krogan shifted his attention to Kallux. "You want to speak to the kral, yes?"

Kallux grunted with a decisive nod.

"Good," the krogan replied with a grin. "Because he would like to speak to you as well, Kallux."


	5. Chapter 5

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 5**

**_City __of __Rakarn__, __Tuchanka_**

Will kept his head lowered just slightly as his eyes shifted around the dim, dirty passenger compartment of the Tomkah. No one had said a word to him since Kallux had agreed to the krogan squad's request that they accompany them to see the kral. Not even Kallux. His friend sat directly across from him with a stoic expression and eyes seemingly lost in thought. Will could only hope that Kallux was running through every possible scenario in his head just in case their meeting with the kral did not turn out as they hoped. At the far end of the compartment sat three of the krogan that had met them when they landed, the fourth being their driver. The rumbling of the Tomkah's engine allowed them to mutter amongst themselves as their eyes wandered over Will and Kallux suspiciously. Will had to wonder if this was the first time some of them had even seen a human in person; they were clearly natives of Tuchanka, after all. His eyes lingered on the trio of krogan for a moment before dropping back to the floor in front of him and absentmindedly staring into the rusty, grime covered metal panels beneath his feet.

He was beginning to grow anxious. Worried, even. The most troubling thing to him was that he could not put his finger on to exactly why. He had been in far more dangerous situations in his life than this, and hell, most of them had been with Kallux at his side. Was it something trivial, such as the fact that he had neglected to bring his helmet? No, he'd had guns drawn on him in bars without a single piece of military hardware on his side, and this felt different. Perhaps it was something as simple as the intimidating stature of the krogan that continuously looked him over as if they were trying to decide which limb to remove first. At least that was what he assumed they were muttering about.

And suddenly, just like that, Will understood his fear. It wasn't a matter of knowing what kind of people they were facing, it was a matter of _not_ knowing. There was so much he simply did not know as they rumbled onward toward the kral. Everything from the culture to the landscape and even the krogan around him were completely foreign to him. Will drew a deep, quiet breath. He knew how things operated in the Terminus Systems, but here he was sheep amongst a pack of wolves. A human in a pack of krogan. Will looked up to Kallux and watched as the krogan finally shifted his eyes to return the gaze with a nod. He let out a small sigh of relief as his nerves settled just the tiniest bit and the sound of the Tomkah's engine grumbled to a halt.

"Finally," the krogan squad leader muttered as he stood with his two underlings. "Gren." He motioned toward the hatch.

Will sat in silence as the krogan he assumed was Gren lumbered to the door and placed his massive hands on the manual latch. He pulled the lever up and gave a hefty push, sending the hatch up and allowing blinding light to spill into the compartment. The squad leader stepped up between the seats where Kallux and Will sat and glanced to them both briefly.

"We're here," he stated, despite how apparent it was. "Get up and follow Gren."

Kallux rose without a word and turned to follow Gren as he stepped down into the dirty street. Will quickly did the same and raised his hand to shield his eyes as they readjusted to the brightness of the sun above them. The Tomkah was parked amongst a few other vehicles in what Will assumed was a motor pool set up in the middle of a wide, long-abandoned road. In front of them was a superstructure that, despite its still impressive size, looked half crumbled away by either the ancient war, thousands of years without upkeep, or both. Will slowly turned in place, looking all around him to where other similar buildings rose from the dirt and sand, only to halt ten or twenty stories up, most without a roof. Will shifted his eyes to the street where huge pieces of stone and metal that had once towered above them lay piled to form roadblocks and walls. A gust of wind sent a spray of sand against his cheek, causing him to wince slightly to avoid dirtying his eyes.

"Captain."

Will looked up as he blinked to be sure his eyes were clear to see Kallux standing a few dozen feet away, his arms crossed.

"Sorry," Will replied as he trotted toward the krogan.

Kallux turned as Will approached him and fell into position at the krogan's side. Gren continued to march along, leading Will, Kallux and the other three krogan behind them toward an enormous set of stairs that ascended to the entrance of the building in front of them. They walked through a wide gate that looked like the entrance to the motor pool and Will realized for the first time that they had been surrounded by a wall of debris since they had exited the Tomkah. As they continued the few dozen meters to the edge of the road and base of the steps, Will could see dozens of krogan around carrying on with their daily business. Some hammered away in what appeared to be a machine shop while other looked over guns and explosives.

"That's the armory for patrols that leave from this sector," Kallux explained as he saw Will looking it over.

Will looked to Kallux as they reached the stairs and began climbing. "You didn't say a word on the ride over. Everything okay?"

"Fine, really. I was just thinking about everything that happened before I left." Kallux turned and looked up the steps as they ascended. "It's been a long time since I've thought about it in detail."

"Why?" Will grunted as he lifted his legs up the larger-than-average steps.

"It's a long story that I don't have the time to tell right now," Kallux replied.

Will took the response and looked back up the stairs as they approached the top in silence. Gren stood waiting for them by the huge doorway that, due to its lack of doors, allowed them to see into the entrance hall. The krogan squad leader hurried past them and through the doorway to where an armed guard stood just inside. The two krogan talked briefly before the guard waved them all through and Will found himself once again walking into the unknown. The entrance hall was large, but not grandiose by any means and seemed only to lead any visitors to a set of doors that opened into a large center chamber. Will and Kallux followed their escort into the chamber where light shone through in thick beams from holes in the dome ceiling. The room was filled with holo-terminals and maps with krogan gathered around and talking among each other. Will felt like he had entered the center of Raik's military organization, but then realized this was probably run of the mill for most krogan population centers. The group finally came to a stop close to the center of the room where a massive slab of rock lay on its side to function as a table with holo-pads, maps and guns scattered across its surface. On the opposite side of the table stood a heavily armored krogan with a jet-black crest and orange eyes, his face littered with scars.

The kral waved away the escort as Kallux slowly approached the table. "Vartin. You're..?"

"Kral of the Bastion," the krogan replied flatly. "Your respect is due."

Kallux bowed his head deeply, but did not hold the gesture for long. "How? When did this happen?"

Vartin narrowed his eyes. "First, explain to me why you have brought this alien to the Bastion. Have you forgotten what this place is to Raik?"

"I didn't forget," Kallux replied indignantly. "I just don't care."

Vartin shook his head. "Of course you don't." The krogan looked over Kallux's shoulder to where Will stood. "Step forward, human."

Will cleared his throat quietly and walked up to Kallux's side.

"Explain yourself, Kallux," Vartin demanded.

"Captain Hume and I operate together as mercenaries." Kallux gave Will a sideways glance. "I brought him with me because he's my ally. He has every right to be here as I do."

Vartin looked from Kallux to the Will. "Is that so? Do you think you're worthy of my respect, human?"

Will smirked slightly. "Yeah, I do. You think I'd walk in here armed to the teeth if I didn't?"

"You sound more like a krogan than Kallux." The kral's lips slowly curved into a grin as he shifted his gaze from Will. "Fine. He stays."

Will felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"I'm glad you're satisfied," Kallux spoke with a slight snarl. "Now why did you call us here, Vartin?"

The kral laughed. "Do you think I would just let you come marching into the Bastion without a second glance?" Vartin's face suddenly grew stern. "Not a chance, Kallux."

"Then it's a good thing my intention was to visit the kral. Shame it had to be you wearing the title and not Crun." Kallux replied coldly.

"Battlemaster Crun has been dead for two hundred years. I, his second-in-command, took his place just as he did the kral before him." Vartin was growing visibly irritated. Perhaps Kallux was in a better way than Vartin had hoped. "Now, if you are here to speak to the kral, speak. Otherwise, I will have you returned to your shuttle."

Kallux paused as he resigned to speaking the words he had clearly been avoiding since they had arrived. "I need your help, Vartin. Captain Hume and I require information from Raik in order to complete an assignment."

Vartin snorted in amusement. "You need my help? You come to Tuchanka and spit in my face, the face of the Bastion and clan Raik, and then have the quads to ask for my help?" The kral placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. "After the way you left five centuries ago... why would I ever help you?"

Kallux looked down to the dusty floor in silence. After a few seconds his eyes slowly rose back up to meet the kral's. He stepped forward and raised his chin as he found his words.

"I may not deserve the help or respect of clan Raik," Kallux began. "But you, Vartin? We've known one another since we were whelps. We grew up in this hell together. We shed blood together." The krogan shook his head lightly. "I... may not want to be a part of this clan, but we'll always be brothers, Vartin. Surely you can honor that."

The kral stared to Kallux intensely before pushing himself up from the table with a small smirk. "Mother was always disappointed in you." Vartin shook his head and snorted in amusement. "'He talks too much and fights too little,' she always told me."

"I suppose I should have been more like my father," Kallux mused bitterly. "Maybe if he had lived to see me born I would be a different krogan."

Will watched in silence as he tried to keep up with the reunion.

Vartin let out a sigh of resignation. "Alright, Kallux. If I can help you, I will. But the clan? You won't get any sympathy from them." The krogan nodded. "What do you need?"

"We're tracking a war criminal. A turian," Kallux stated. Will was certain Kallux mentioned such specifics to encourage the kral's cooperation. "And we have evidence that clan Raik was in business with him."

"A _turian__? _You think we would-"

"Does the name Antarian sound familiar?" Kallux interrupted. "We know his ships landed here. There's no need to deny it."

Vartin quieted and looked around to be sure that no others were listening in on their conversation. "I may know... something."

Kallux nodded encouragingly. "I'll take anything."

"I made those deals a few years ago. I have all of the invoice logs," Vartin stated under his breath. "But... its sensitive information, Kallux. You're a fool if you think I'll just give it away to anyone who asks."

"We're not a couple of strangers," Will interjected quickly. Vartin and Kallux turned in surprise, almost having forgot that the human was present. "Well, I might be... but Kallux isn't."

Vartin looked back to Kallux. "It's been five centuries since we last spoke, brother. Even you can't be gone that long without my trust fading."

"This is important, damn it." Kallux let out an exasperated sigh.

"Alright, listen." Vartin paused briefly. "There's another reason I called you here when we intercepted your ID codes. If you can help me... I can help you in return."

Kallux gave Vartin a quizzical look. "You need _my_ help?"

The kral nodded in affirmation. "It's Taxalur. He went missing weeks ago and you might be the only one who can find him."

Will raised a brow. "Taxalur?"

Kallux gave Will a sideways glance. "He's an old friend. He took me under his wing when I was younger." The krogan let a bittersweet smirk spread across his lips. "He was different. Like me."

"Why do you care about him?" Will looked to Vartin curiously.

"He doesn't," Kallux answered before Vartin could. "Taxalur is an asset to Vartin and the rest of Raik. Not a friend."

"Of course," Vartin stated bluntly. "Taxalur is the most brilliant weaponsmith on Tuchanka. His designs are the reason Raik has conquered so much over the past seven centuries."

"And I was his favorite apprentice." Kallux motioned over his shoulder to the cannon on his back. "This was his parting gift when I left the planet."

"Well, I can see why you need him," Will jested. "What happened to him? Where is he?"

Vartin turned and began to pace on his side of the table. "He ventured into the Maw three weeks ago without telling anyone. We started tracking him after we realized he was gone, but he deactivated his omni-tool. We haven't heard from him since."

"The Maw?" Will looked to either krogan as he waited for an explanation.

"The eastern half of the city. It suffered complete devastation during the ancient wars," Kallux explained. "The ruins are uninhabitable. Even the roads are impassable."

"So what's stopping you from sending soldiers to find him?" Will inquired to Vartin.

"I don't think you realize just how expansive and uncharted the Maw is," Vartin replied. "We've been searching since he dropped out of contact, but we've barely covered a fraction of the territory. It will take years to search every nook and cranny of the ruins."

Will shook his head. "And how do you know Kallux can find him?"

"I don't," Vartin admitted irritably. "But he knew Taxalur better than anyone."

Kallux looked to the side as he thought. "I might have some ideas." The krogan nodded and looked back to Vartin. "We'll do it. But then I want that information, Vartin."

The kral grunted and walked around the table to where Kallux and Will stood. "Fine." He held out a hand and the brothers shook once.

Vartin eyed Will for a moment before offering a hand to him as well. He gladly accepted it.

"I hope you can fight as well as Kallux claims," Vartin informed Will. "Because the Maw is not a place for the weak. It's not even a place for the strong."

"Thanks for the heads up." Will retracted his hand and smirked. "But I think we can handle ourselves."

* * *

"The Maw?" Corsin laughed. "That sounds terribly inviting. You krogan are just masters of language, you know that?"

"You'll understand the name when we get there," Kallux replied.

Will looked around the passenger compartment of the Kodiak where the crew stood. He and Kallux had just given their summary of their visit to see the kral and so far the reaction of the others seemed mixed. The _Hyperion_ crew was more than ready to head into the abyss with Will and Kallux, but the Spectres needed a little convincing.

"What makes you so sure you can find this friend of yours?" Vayren asked suspiciously.

"There's a place Taxalur and I ventured to in the Maw many times. A great library. As far as I know, I'm the only other person who knows of it. It was the only place we ever visited." Kallux crossed his arms. "By the sounds of it, Taxalur left the Bastion not wanting to be found. It's a shot in the dark, but there's a chance he might be there in search of something."

"You think he'd have found it by now," Tul'Sorrin noted.

Kallux nodded in agreement. "Taxalur is an old krogan, but he could handle himself against almost anything. And that's what has me worried."

"You think something happened to him?" Shansa frowned worriedly.

"I sincerely hope not," Kallux replied. "But the journey to the library never took us more than five days. He should have returned by now."

Corsin let out a disapproving groan. "This is all assuming he even went there to begin with. Our time is short and we need this intel."

"We'll get it," Will assured him. He looked to the others and smiled confidently. "I trust Kallux on this one."

"Same," Eleena agreed.

The rest of the _Hyperion _crew nodded in agreement and looked to the Spectres. Vayren and Corsin glanced to one another briefly before turning back to the others.

"Well it's not like we have any other options," Vayren grumbled. "Where is this library?"

"Deep in the ruins," Kallux answered. "Shansa should be able to fly us in and save us most of the journey, but the last portion must be made on foot. The library is under the remains of collapsed superstructures." The krogan looked around the circle of comrades before him. "It's a dangerous place and we'll need to exercise caution. The wildlife and unstable ruins will fight us the entire way."

Will looked to Tul'Sorrin and motioned toward the cockpit. "Tul, I want you to stay in the Kodiak for this one to monitor our progression."

Tul'Sorrin nodded in agreement. "I should be able to get decent enough readings to advise you of any potential instability in the ruins. I'll keep an eye on seismic activity as well."

"Good thinking," Vayren acknowledged.

"So we'll move as a team of five then?" Corsin's eyes darted to his potential squadmates.

"Yes. You two," Will nodded to the Spectres, "Kallux, Eleena and I will form the squad. That should be more than enough firepower to deal with any beasties we run into."

Kallux smirked. "Let's hope so. Tuchanka's a harsh world, my friend."

Will cleared his throat and glanced to Shansa and Tul. "Let's get in the air."

They nodded and darted into the cockpit.

Kallux turned to follow them. "I'll help navigate to a decent landing zone."

"Good." Will looked back to Eleena, Corsin and Vayren. "Everyone ready to move?"

Eleena lifted her helmet from the bench beside her. "Always, Captain."

Will grinned and slid his own helmet onto his head and locked it into place. "Let's go find out what makes the krogan call this place dangerous."


	6. Chapter 6

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 6**

_**City of Rakarn, Tuchanka**_

The shuttle flight to what the krogan ominously referred to as "the Maw" had only taken a few minutes. Will decided to open the hatch after the Kodiak had reached a respectable distance from Raik forces and stand with his hand secure on the bulkhead to observe more of the landscape with his own eyes. It was clear that the further the shuttle flew west, the more degraded the city became. The culmination of this shift came when the Kodiak crossed over a long, stone gorge that snaked its way through the city from the north to the south. Most of the bridges that stretched across the artificial valley had fallen, leaving only one or two passable routes. Will theorized to himself that they had passed over what had once been a canal, long-dried like the sea it would have eventually led to. Corsin and Vayren stepped up beside Will as they had cleared the canal and stared in silence over the desolate remnants of city that they would be trekking through.

The Maw was almost indescribable in its appearance and expanse. No buildings remained to tower over any others, but the remnants of the superstructures that had once provided the bulk of the city lay twisted and piled among one another. Will thought it resembled an unnaturally dense pile of leaves and sticks, only instead of natural debris, it consisted of inconceivable tons of twisted stone and metal. The Spectres, having apparently seen everything they'd needed to see after a few seconds, turned from the hatch and returned to their places on the troop-bench. Will continued to stare as Kallux spent a good ten or fifteen minutes attempting to locate the best landing zone, the sun whipping harshly at Will's visor all the while.

"_We've got an LZ,"_ Shansa finally reported. _"Hitting the ground in forty-five seconds."_

"Affirmative," Will acknowledged curtly.

The shuttle turned into a wide bank and descended toward the decided location rapidly as Kallux stepped from the cockpit and joined Will by the hatch. Eleena stood and joined them, leaning her back casually against the wall beside the open door.

"What are we expecting in terms of wildlife?" Will raised a brow and looked to the krogan.

Vayren and Corsin had finished preparing and had taken up position beside Kallux as he responded. "I'm _expecting_ the usual: varren, klixen, maybe some irritable pyjaks. They're numerous enough that you'll see them almost anywhere on Tuchanka." The krogan drew his cannon and waited as the weapon mechanically extended to its full state. "But a lot can happen in five hundred years."

Corsin retrieved his rifle from his back. "Good. It's always more fun with some unknowns."

Vayren sighed and shook his head in objection. "You've just exemplified why Spectres don't work well as a group."

The thrusters on the belly of the Kodiak roared to life and stabilized the shuttle a few feet above a long, flat slab of stone. Will and Kallux gave each other a nod and leapt to the ground below them as dirt and dust stormed up around them from the force of the Kodiak's thrusters. Will could have sworn that the surface had shifted an inch or so when they landed, but after taking a few steps forward he turned back and motioned for the others to follow. Eleena, Corsin and Vayren jumped down to join Will and Kallux, their weapons raised and at the ready.

"We're clear," Will reported to the Kodiak.

"_Understood. So far I'm not seeing any instability where you are,"_ Tul'Sorrin informed them.

The dropship's drive thrusters roared and pushed the Kodiak into the sky once again, its hatch slamming shut as it ascended. Will waited patiently for the dust that swirled around him to settle to the ground before drawing his rifle and looking around their landing zone. The uneven landscape made it hard to see more than a few dozen meters in any direction as enormous shards of debris rose up toward the sky to block his view.

"Well, Kallux, I hope you know where we're going," Eleena said with a sigh. "Because all I see is a bunch of rocks."

The krogan remained silent for a few moments before nodding. "Follow me."

Kallux stepped forward and toward the end of the slab with the others quickly falling into position behind him. The krogan peered over the edge as he slid his weapon onto his back before casually leaping down off the slab and disappearing from the sight of the squad. A deep thud rang out accompanied by a small plume of dust. Will and the others quickened their pace and looked down over the edge to where Kallux stood a good ten feet down looking back up at them.

"It's a bit of a fall," he informed them. "You might wanna ease yourselves down. I doubt the joints in your knees and ankles are as strong as a krogan's."

Will slid his rifle onto his back while looking to the others. "See you all down there."

Without a moment of hesitation he turned and stepped off the ledge backwards. His hands grabbed hold of the slab as he fell to stop his fall, leaving him dangling a few feet from the ground where Kallux stood watching. Will glanced over his shoulder to get a feel for the distance of the rest of the fall and let go. He landed and caught his balance quickly with Kallux smirking in approval.

"Easy." Will clapped his hands together to rid his gloves of the dust they had gathered and stepped up beside Kallux.

The pair looked up where Eleena, Corsin and Vayren stood. Vayren shook his head and knelt down, easing himself into the same position Will had been in without the over-the-top jump. The salarian dropped to the ground with surprising poise and walked over to Will and Kallux to watch the next member of the squad descend. Corsin gave Eleena a glance and the asari waved her hand to show him that he could go next. The turian stowed his rifle and leapt from the edge, rolling as he hit the ground to disperse the force of his fall. He grunted as he sprung to his feet and shook the dust from his armor.

"Points for style," Will mused as Corsin lined up by the others.

"Presentation is important," the turian replied.

"That so?" Eleena inquired from the ledge.

"It's not a bad fall," Corsin informed her. "I can give you a hand if you'd like."

Will and Kallux exchanged an amused look.

"Thanks for the offer," the asari answered. "But I'll handle it."

Eleena stowed her SMG and held her arms out on either side of her body as biotic energy began swirling around her hands. She placed her feet together and jumped forward, clearing the ledge significantly as a biotic bubble wrapped around her. Eleena's momentum seemed to drop to nearly nothing as she gently floated toward them in her tightly controlled mass effect field. The blue energy disappeared in the blink of an eye as her feet touched the ground.

"Well," Vayren began. "I see Captain Hume wasn't exaggerating about your biotic potency."

Corsin cleared his throat sheepishly. "Indeed."

Eleena retrieved her weapon and looked to the others. "We ready to go, or what?"

Will looked to Kallux and nodded. "Lead the way, my strong-legged friend."

The krogan smirked and started off into the shadow cast by the huge slab of stone they had landed on. The squad fell into position beside and around Kallux as he led them to the entrance a debris-ridden tunnel that slowly descended below the surface. The tunnel, which seemed more like a cave than anything, was cramped and could only fit the group single-file. The jagged and uneven floor consisted of loose boulders and metal beams from centuries past, making their descent slow and difficult. Adding to the uneven floor was the lighting and confusing shadows it cast. Sunlight shone from the opening they had entered from as well as dozens of small holes that spotted the ceiling where gaps in the ruins above them allowed thin beams of light to sneak their way into the depths of the tunnel.

"Where does this tunnel take us?" Eleena asked as she carefully chose her steps.

"Down," Kallux replied with a grin that the others could not see.

"Fuck you," Eleena regarded with a small laugh.

Kallux chuckled at the asari's disapproval. "This should take us to the old sewers, and from there we have a small walk to a ladder up to the transit tunnels. Once we're in the transit tunnels it's an easy walk to the library."

"Why do I get the feeling it won't be as easy as it sounds?" Will inquired.

"Oh, I assure you, the route is that easy," Kallux replied. "Its the journey that might be tough."

Vayren scoffed slightly. "I'll believe it when I see it. So far this 'Maw' has been no more dangerous than the Warehouse District on the Citadel."

After a few more minutes of careful descent, the group reached the end of the tunnel as it spilled into a huge, cylindrical tube at least twenty feet in diameter. Kallux turned on his flashlight and stepped into the sewer first to make sure it was clear before motioning for the rest of the squad to follow. They turned on their flashlights and jumped into the much more spacious tunnel one-by-one. The floor was littered with debris just as the smaller tunnel had been, but width of the cylindrical tunnel gave them ample room to move.

Will activated his comm to the Kodiak as Kallux attempted to find his bearings. "Tul, can you hear me?"

The quarian's voice crackled with static as he responded. _"You're a little rough, but yes."_

"Good," the captain replied. "How are the readings looking?"

"_No signs of instability. You're nearly a hundred feet below the surface, though. It might be hard to get accurate data."_

Will looked to the squad as they stood waiting. "Alright, understood. I think we'll be heading upward soon, so hopefully that'll help clear things up. Hume, out."

Kallux, having determined their course, stepped up to the front of the group and waved them all forward. Corsin shone his flashlight slowly down one side of the wall as Will hurried to keep up the others as they moved behind Kallux's lead. The squad watched as the turian revealed at least a half-dozen holes like the one they had entered the tunnel from.

"Any idea where these go?" Corsin peered into one of the crevices as they passed by.

"Most of them are dead ends," Kallux explained, his eyes carefully looking for any movement.

Eleena looked into one of the openings on their left that led downward and out of sight. "And the ones that aren't?"

Kallux reached to his back to retrieve his cannon. "Nests."

"So how'd you know where to find a tunnel that led to the sewers?" Will moved up to Kallux's side, his rifle at ease.

"Tul'Sorrin used the geo-scanner to look for cave formations." Kallux grinned in approval. "Worked like a charm."

The squad continued in silence for at least five minutes before Will finally decided to speak. "So, Kallux, mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead," the krogan replied calmly.

"You've never told us about your life before you left Tuchanka," Will stated.

Eleena grinned and raised a finger in objection. "That's not true. He's told us plenty about how much he hated it."

"That I have," Kallux admitted reluctantly. "I suppose now is as good a time as ever to answer any of your questions. What did you want to know?"

"Anything, really. It's hard to know what to ask about when I only know so little." Will could see the Spectres subtly turn their attention to the conversation at hand.

The krogan chuckled deeply and shook his head. "Alright, Hume. How about I just tell you everything relevant to our situation?" He glanced down to the human with a grin. "We could walk through every inch of this tunnel and I wouldn't have time to finish telling you about my youth."

"Anytime you wanna start, I'm listening." Will grinned in return but held his light straight ahead as they walked. "Time's a wastin', old man."

"Where to start," Kallux muttered to himself. "As I'm sure you can tell, Vartin and I have an extensive history. He's my half-brother."

"Half?" Will inquired.

"It's rare for krogan siblings to share both parents," Kallux explained. "Raik's fertile females mother children from as many males as possible to keep our genetics diverse. Vartin was the child my mother birthed immediately before me, and by that circumstance we were raised together. We spent most of our youth learning and growing along side one another."

"So you two were close?" Eleena asked as she gave Kallux a quick glance.

The krogan chuckled. "It depends on how you define 'close.' Obviously we spent a lot of time together, but krogan typically don't like to assign feelings to their brothers or friends that don't directly concern competition." Kallux smiled softly in what Will assumed was nostalgia. "We certainly relied on each other from time to time, but from the moment we could understand the concept of winning we were pushed by those around us to excel at what krogan and Raik do best."

"Fight?" Vayren asked curiously.

"Persevere," Kallux replied. "At least that's what they like to tell themselves. In truth, Raik was no more powerful than any other clan on Tuchanka. At least not until Taxalur's weapons caught the eye of the clan leader."

A high-pitched yelp caused the squad to jerk to a stop and whip their flashlights in every which direction in an attempt to locate the origin of the sound.

"Varren," Kallux informed them as he slowly scanned the expanse of tunnel before them.

"It sounded like it was dying," Corsin mentioned offhandedly.

"No," Kallux quickly corrected. "They use those yelps to call fo-"

"Contact!" Vayren shouted from the rear of the formation.

By the time Will had spun around, Vayren had already fired off two rounds from his rifle at a varren that had tumbled from one of the gaping holes in the wall. Another came scrambling after it, and another, before a forth climbed from a hole in the floor on the opposite side of the sewer. Will dropped to his knee and trained his crosshairs on the closest charging beast before pulling the trigger and laying a few bursts into its neck and chest. Vayren's rifle sent a shot into its head, dropping the varren to the floor, limp. Out of the corner of his eye Will could see Corsin step up and begin firing as well, his armor now bolstered by orange, seemingly holographic panels. Will guessed that the boon could only be Tech Armor, something he rarely saw in the Terminus Systems.

"Watch your heads!" Kallux yelled.

The deep thumps of his cannon erupted and echoed furiously off of the stone walls around them. The rounds, however, continued straight and true into one of the varren as it closed the gap between the hole it had emerged from and Vayren. The salarian quickly identified Kallux's advantage and rolled to the side in hopes of giving the krogan a better shot. The varren dropped as two shots from Kallux's weapon ripped through its legs and torso, leaving it a bloody heap on the dusty floor. Will watched the salarian as he dove to the side and was about to turn his attention back to the remaining varren as movement behind the group caught his eye.

"Behind us!" Will shouted as he turned to face the new threat.

A varren had already charged from its nesting hole to the group's flank and was jumping at full strength toward Corsin's back. The turian was spinning to meet the attack as the varren leapt through the air, only to have biotic energy burst around the beast and suspend it a few feet from contact. Eleena's SMG ripped through the vulnerable varren, killing it long before the biotic sphere that caught it in stasis had dissipated. A final varren came scrambling from one of the tunnels, but was met with an efficient burst from Will and Corsin's assault rifles. With no immediate threats the squad scanned the wide sewer pipe meticulously, the only sounds being that of armor plating shifting and the hum of the heavy-duty power source inside Kallux's cannon.

"Looks clear," Will stated as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Affirmative," Corsin agreed as he lowered his rifle. The turian glanced to Eleena and nodded. "Thanks for that catch."

The asari let her off-hand fall from the SMG as she lowered her arms to her side. "Sure."

Will shifted his view to the salarian and krogan. "Vayren, Kallux?"

"Ready to move," Vayren replied curtly as he rose to his feet.

Kallux briefly stared down the path they had taken to be sure they would have no more company. "As am I."

The squad fell into position around Kallux as he started off down the sewer line once again. With the recent contact the group was far more cautious in their procedure, moving in silence for a few minutes as they passed the first major intersection in their path. Kallux led them past the four-way tunnel connection, assuring them that they would be out of the sewers in just a few minutes. As he felt the sense of danger slacken, Will looked over to the Kallux.

"So, you were saying?"

Kallux smirked lightly. "Guess it was too much to hope that your curiosity would be satiated. Where was I?"

"You were starting to talk about Taxalur," Eleena reminded him.

The krogan nodded. "Ah yes, Taxalur. He's a rarity among krogan: a creator. He has a mind for engineering and building where most of my people only want to destroy. Not that it's entirely their fault, of course. Would you care about the future of the world or galaxy knowing that your race would cease to exist in a few centuries?"

Will watched the Spectres out of the corner of his eyes. Their faces remained stoic to the point where they seemed to be intentionally hiding their feelings.

"Couldn't say," Eleena answered. "It's hard to imagine without that perspective."

"And that's where the problem lies. It's difficult for others or even ourselves to understand how or why the majority of krogan think the way they do. Most don't feel that they should have to consider the ramifications of their actions. But why?" Kallux shook his head slightly. "I couldn't say. Krogan don't produce great scientists and engineers like, for instance, the salarians do, but I wouldn't call us unintelligent by any means. Perhaps it's to painful to think so far ahead knowing your people will not be there to experience it."

"Or they're just bitter about being neutered," Eleena added.

The krogan shrugged. "That too."

"I wouldn't say _you_ don't think about others," Will objected. "Hell, you're the member of the RMC, after all."

Kallux nodded, his lips holding a bittersweet smile. "I fear that I am an anomaly among my people and the numbers certainly agree. When I was young I would often ask why our soldiers were marching off to challenge Urdnot, Weyrloc or whoever it was at the time. The answer I always got was that it was our nature; it's what we do. But that answer never satisfied me. Then I met Taxalur."

The krogan came to a sudden stop that took the rest of the squad by surprise. Kallux nodded to the wall where a ladder carved into the stone rose up to the ceiling and out of sight.

"We're going up," Kallux informed them as he stowed his cannon.

The squad followed his lead and secured their weapons as Kallux stepped up to the ladder and gripped a high rung with his hands. He pulled himself up with ease and began scaling the wall up into a small tunnel above them. Will began to climb after him, only to stop about halfway up as the krogan let out a grunt and pushed aside a heavy sounding hatch. Kallux pulled himself up out of the tube, allowing Will to hurry up behind him. Will pulled himself to his feet and looked around to see they had been deposited into another cylindrical tunnel, this one twice the size of the sewer. From the center of the tunnel where he stood Will realized that they had entered an underground railway. About five feet off the ground to either side of him were thick, metal beams that ran as far as he could see in either direction. Monorails. The metal was clearly degraded, but still surprisingly intact for how old it must have been. As the rest of the squad climbed up from the sewer, Kallux drew his cannon once again and began marching onward.

"Only a little further," the krogan assured them as they fell in behind him.

Will quickened his pace to reach Kallux's side. "So when did you meet Taxalur?"

"It was around my first centennial. I had been with my unit for a few years by then doing mostly uninteresting things... patrols and such. One day Taxalur showed up at our armory while we were preparing to head out and told us that he needed volunteers to test a new weapon he had been working on. The others jumped at the opprotunity to put his new killing device to the test, a shotgun in this case, and our squad leader was selected to carry the weapon. The patrol was uneventful, of course, but the shotgun was put to use on a large collection of local wildlife." Kallux let out a small laugh. "It was an early iteration of the gun, but it still packed a punch."

Will chuckled. "If the same guy built your cannon, I can imagine so."

Kallux nodded in agreement. "After we had returned from our patrol I waited until the others had left and watched as Taxalur worked on breaking down the shotgun. I was curious about the fact that _he _had built it, so I asked him why and he told me that he enjoyed the process of creation. Sensing the irony, I asked him why he would create something used to destroy." The krogan grinned. "He was silent for a moment before answering that there wasn't much else he could build on Tuchanka... I could hear the disappointment in his tone. I told him that if he ever needed any help testing weapons I would be glad to help."

"I soon became what you might call his apprentice, though I didn't do much construction or engineering. I never had the eye or mind for it. I would help him with testing, brainstorm with him and act as his bodyguard whenever we ventured to places such as this. I looked up to him much in the way most krogan of Raik looked up to the clan leader."

"Sounds like he was a father to you," Corsin suggested.

Kallux looked over to his shoulder to the Spectres and nodded. "The role of the father to a krogan is different than that of a turian or human, but you're correct. Taxalur and I discussed our disagreements with the attitude of Raik more over time. I had been apprehensive about my opinions after a hundred years of being given impression that they were abnormal. Taxalur, I soon discovered, thought the same way as I did. But he was an older krogan, nine-hundred years or so when we met, and he felt he was far past his time in life to make a difference or convince the clan that they needed to change."

A faint hiss caused the krogan to freeze in place and raise a hand to silently order the others to a stop. The squad halted on a dime and brought their weapons to the ready as Kallux slowly scanned the dim tunnel with his flashlight.

"I think I heard something," Kallux stated quietly.

Eleena's fists began to glow softly. "Yeah, I heard it too."

A small thud sounded from around the turn that curved ahead of them followed by the pitter-patter of footsteps on metal.

"Get behind something and turn off your lights," Kallux ordered.

Will and Eleena hurried to a pile of rubble on the right side of the tunnel while Kallux darted behind the support column of one of the monorail beams. Corsin did the same as Kallux and took cover behind the support column of the parallel track while Vayren simply tapped a button on his omnitool and vanished into thin air. With their flashlights off the only light came from a hole in the ceiling which allowed a faint sliver of sunlight to shine onto the floor a few meters ahead. Will stared toward the clattering on the rail until finally motion in the darkness caught his eye. As the creature scurried down the rail and closer to the light the squad got a full glimpse of the beast.

It looked to be nearly the size of a varren, but resembled a insect or arachnid in its shape and movement. It had a bulky body and six thick legs all covered in a shining material that looked to be more than tough enough to withstand the average trials and tribulations of the Tuchankan environment. Its head darted to the left and right where its two eyes looked about freely like a chameleon's. The creature stopped and looked up to the ceiling briefly before jumping over a dozen feet and digging the claws at the end of its feet into the stone ceiling. Dust sprinkled out from where it had latched onto the ceiling and gently rained down as the squad watched from the shadows.

"Arasik," Kallux whispered into the comms.

The group watched in silence as two more of the creatures appeared from around the bend in the tunnel, one of the monorail and the other on the wall.

"Are they gonna see us?" Will whispered.

"Yes," Kallux answered shortly. "Let's take them by surprise and kill the one of the ceiling first. You'll know when to fire."

The krogan reached to his side and plucked a grenade from his belt. Kallux primed the grenade and knelt to the ground where he chucked the explosive in a side-arm throw down the tunnel. A red light on the grenade began to blink as it stuck to the wall about twenty feet down the hall. The flashing light immediately caught the attention of the trio of arasik which turned to face it and hiss menacingly. The squad raised their weapons and took aim, with the exception of Kallux, who could not ready his weapon without stepping from cover. After three long seconds the grenade exploded in a flash of light that sent the three arasik scurrying from their positions in confusion, but to nowhere in particular.

"Fire!" Will shouted to the others.

Their guns exploded into action and sent a wave of bullets toward the creature on the ceiling. Will winced slightly at the echoing and reverberating sound around him as dozens of gunshots filled the air in just a few seconds. The squad's gunfire peppered the first arasik and the ceiling around him, cutting holes into its head and legs, but failing to penetrate the thick shell on its back. The creature screeched unnervingly as it lost its grip on the stone and fell to the floor of the tunnel. The other two, however, quickly realized the danger and leapt to new positions in the blink of an eye. Kallux had not bothered to fire at the first target and was tracking their second as it fell. The squad's shots became split between the two remaining arasik as they jumped once again to new positions on the walls and floor.

"Watch out for the spit!" Kallux shouted.

Eleena ducked down behind the rubble she and Will had taken cover behind as her SMG overheated. "The what!?"

Before Kallux could clarify, the creature clinging to the wall hissed violently and a stream of jet-black liquid came bursting from an orifice on its neck. The oily substance splashed onto the rail above Kallux, forcing him to dive to the side as a large chunk of metal bubbled and dripped away from the acidic substance. Will blinked in shock as the liquid dripped onto the floor and ate away at the stone as well. Kallux rolled and jumped to his feet with surprising athleticism and brought his cannon to bear on the creature. The heavy shots ripped through the arasik's head and brought it tumbling to the ground with a thud. The Spectres continued to fire on the third creature as it scurried along the wall toward them, hissing angrily as it closed the gap. Vayren had taken up a kneeling position a few meters back from the rest of the group and was firing off shot after shot, only to have each bullet connect with the arasik's seemingly impenetrable carapace. Will and Eleena turned to look for a shot, but could not get a clear line-of-sight with the two large monorail tracks blocking their view.

Corsin's rifle unloaded into the arasik as it rushed toward his location, but cut out from overheating after such a long period of extended fire. The turian threw the rifle aside and raised his left hand as a ball of biotic energy formed in his palm. A biotic throw exploded from Corsin's fist and impacted the arasik as his right hand drew his sidearm fluidly and took aim. Vayren and Corsin's gunshots cut into the creature's underside as it flipped backward off of the wall and landed on the ground, motionless. The squad's flashlights cut on as their eyes darted around in search of movement from the three fallen arasik.

"What the fuck were those?" Eleena asked as she tried to normalize her breathing.

"As I said, arasik." Kallux stepped up to the closest corpse. "I've never seen them in this part of the Maw, though. Not this close to the library."

"We should move quickly," Corsin stated as he retrieved his rifle from the floor. "The noise might have attracted more guests."

Kallux looked back to the turian and nodded. "You're right, let's go. The station is just around the corner."

The krogan turned and took quickened steps down the tunnel. Will stood and held out a hand to Eleena, which was swatted away with a grin as she got to her feet and gave him a push toward Kallux. The squad hurried to fall in behind the krogan as he trotted down the tunnel and around the wide turn. As they rounded the curve Will could see a widening of the tunnel ahead where platforms on either side indicated that they had arrived at a station. Kallux moved to the side of the tunnel as they approached the station and stowed his weapon as they reached the edge of the platform. He jumped up onto what looked like a maintenance or emergency ladder and climbed the few rungs to the top where he turned to offer a hand to whoever was climbing next. Will volunteered and soon found himself on the dusty boarding platform looking around as Kallux helped the others up.

"Looks clear," Will informed them after a quick scan of the area.

"What a shame," Corsin joked as he climbed from the ladder to the platform. "I was looking forward to more of those bugs."

"We've still got plenty of time to find more," Kallux mentioned as he helped Eleena up.

Vayren was the last of the squad on the platform and nodded a thanks to the krogan. "How far are we from the library?"

"We're here, technically," Kallux answered as he drew his weapon once again. "This station is directly below it."

The krogan turned toward a wide set of stairs on the far side of the platform and waved for the others to follow him. The squad crossed to the other side of the station quickly and ascended the stairs with Kallux taking point, his cannon leading each turn as they moved upward through the stairwell. After moving up three flights of stairs they exited into a short hallway that ended at a set of metal doors that looked to have been forced half-open long ago. Will stared at the walls where long-eroded signs still bore the faint outline of letters from a krogan alphabet. He turned his attention back to the doorway ahead and could see, surprisingly enough, beams of light shining from up out of sight to the center of a cavernous room.

Kallux slowed as they reached the doors and stepped through with his eyes wandering. Will followed eagerly and stepped through the door in awe of the sight before him. A room at least five stories tall and just as wide towered around him. Each level included walkways that circled the entire room that allowed access to shelves lining the walls. Thousands of books were scattered across the shelves and floor, most clearly degraded far beyond the point of use. Stone tables and broken metal chairs lay in the center of the room with dirt and debris from the ceiling cluttering the area around them. Will looked to the ceiling where what had once been a domed skylight was covered by portions of the fallen buildings that had once surrounded the library. Through the holes in the debris above them shone the rays of light that illuminated the golden-brown ruins around them.

Kallux looked back to the rest of the squad as they entered from the hallway. "Welcome to the ruins of krogan intellectualism."

A deep, gravelly voice called out from across the chamber. "It's not dead yet."

A grin spread across Kallux's face as he turned back to face the room. "Is that so?"

The squad waited silently as footsteps echoed around them for a few seconds before a krogan appeared from behind a large chunk of a fallen column that lay across the side of the room.

"I thought you were done with Tuchanka," the clearly older krogan stated as he walked toward the group and extended a hand to Kallux. "It's been too long, my friend."

Kallux shook the krogan's hand once. "And it's good to see you're not dead, Taxalur."


	7. Chapter 7

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 7**

_**City of Rakarn, Tuchanka**_

Will could hear his father's voice as if he was standing right next to him here on Tuchanka.

"_Will! Can you give me a hand with something?"_

He had already been one foot out the door of the prefab when his father's call rang out from the back room. Will stopped in his tracks, let out an irritated sigh and stared up into the cloudy Arvuna sky. He was running late and he had no doubt that Shansa was already waiting for him at the launch station. Their shift on the harvester was due to start in fifteen minutes and he really didn't have the time to help out his father.

"Dad can it wait? I'm late already," Will shouted in return.

"_I just need help lifting something. It'll take ten seconds."_

With a reluctant sigh, Will turned and hurried back through the living room to the small storage closet in the back of their prefab. Will's father, Alec, was standing near a shelf in the back with his hands on his hips as he waited.

"What is it?" Will looked around the room impatiently.

Alec nodded to the heavy crate he kept at the top of the shelves. "I'm bringing this down to the floor to put in the corner. Come grab a side."

Will shook his head. "That's it? Why couldn't this wait until tonight?"

"Because I'm doing this now, William." Alec gave him a stern stare. "Now give me a damn hand with this thing." Alec turned and raised his hands to grab one side of the heavy metal container.

"You know my harvester is leaving in ten minutes, right?" Will barked angrily as he crossed the room to the shelf.

"Then why the hell are you arguing with me?" Alec demanded.

In truth, Will did not know. He could have helped his father and been out the door already, but today there was just something in the back of his mind, antagonizing him. He hadn't slept well the night before, for starters, and he had already missed a harvester launch and his shift that month.

Will shook his head and reached up to grab the crate. "Forget it."

The two men lifted the container from the shelf and quickly brought it to where Alec had intended to place it in corner of the room. Will recognized the crate as they set it to the ground: his father's old footlocker from when he served with the Alliance. Inside was a set of outdated armor, a sidearm and an M-15 Alec had purchased before they moved to the colony, just to be on the safe side.

"Sorry about yelling," Will muttered as he stood up and straightened his jacket.

Alec looked up as he knelt by the container. "Are you alright, son?"

Will gave a small shrug. "Past few days have kinda sucked."

The man on his knees pulled himself up and stepped around the crate to where his son stood. "Why don't we talk about it when you get back from your shift?"

"Goddamn, dad, I'm twenty years old. I can't unload all of my problems onto you like I'm a kid."

Alec smirked lightly and put his hand on Will's shoulder. "I didn't say anything about fixing your problems for you. You're gonna have to deal with 'em yourself." Alec gave his son a firm pat on the shoulder and dropped his hand back to his side. "Doesn't mean I can't help talk you through them, though."

Will smiled to himself and nodded. "Thanks."

His father glanced to the door. "You'd better get to the launch station, quick."

"Yeah." Will turned and hurried through the door. "See you for dinner."

Will frowned as the memory of his colonial home on Arvuna and the last moment he had spoken to his father disappeared in a literal blink of his eyes. His eyelids fluttered a few times and shook his head as he recomposed himself. He was surprised that the sight of two krogan simply exchanging a handshake and weary smiles could trigger such a vivid memory. It made sense, though. Kallux had made it obvious that Taxalur was like the father to him that most krogan never have.

"Still using that prototype, huh?" Taxalur asked as he eyed the cannon that Kallux held idly in his offhand.

"You kidding?" Kallux laughed. "I'm surprised every soldier in Raik isn't outfitted with the latest model."

Taxalur waved a hand dismissively. "Bah. It's too bulky and impractical for widespread use. Plus, I could never work out that issue with the overloading heat sink."

Kallux chuckled. "Trust me, it never went away."

Will could hear the happiness in Kallux's voice. He'd never heard the tone so strongly from him.

The elder krogan laughed and shook his head before glancing over Kallux's shoulder. "Now what in the Void is this..."

Kallux looked back to the squad and stepped to the side. "Ah, my apologies. This is my squad."

"Your squad?" Taxalur's voice and tone had a clear age to it. "I knew you'd make your own way, Kallux, but I never expected to see you with an asari, turian, salarian and..." The elder krogan narrowed his eyes. "Ah, you must one of the newcomers. Human?"

"That I am," Will replied. "Captain William Hume. Kallux, and Eleena here, are members of my crew." He looked to the other two. "And these two are Corsin Rentarius and Vayren. Spectres."

Taxalur let out a long, slow laugh. "Spectres. Kallux, you never cease to bewilder." The elder krogan took a few weak steps up to Will and the rest of the squad. "I am Raik Taxalur. Since Kallux finds you to be worthy of his companionship, then it's an honor to meet you."

Will stepped up and extended a hand that the krogan gladly shook. "The honor's ours, Taxalur."

The elder krogan smiled and stepped back as Kallux moved up next to Will. "So what brings you and your band of aliens to the Maw?"

Kallux smirked. "To find you and ask the same question."

Taxalur's smile faded slightly. "I see. And who sent you?"

Will could see the shame in Kallux's eyes as he replied. "Vartin."

"Bah." Taxalur waved a hand dismissively. "He's the reason I'm out here and he's the reason _you _left Tuchanka. And you've come all this way to find me for _him?_"

"Vartin made you leave Tuchanka?" Will looked to Kallux and raised a brow. "How?"

Kallux debated silently on whether or not to answer before shaking his head angrily. "He took a bounty and killed a bystander in the process, an infertile Raik female. I reported it to the kral, but he laughed in my face. An infertile female was no great loss, I was told. Vartin got a slap on the wrist." The krogan let out what almost sounded like a hiss. "I couldn't be a part of... them... anymore."

"I told him that he shouldn't doom himself to an existence on Tuchanka," Taxalur added. "That he was worthy of a greater calling."

"So I booked passage off-world and never returned," Kallux finished with a sigh. "Until now."

"Yes, until now," Vayren repeated impatiently. "I feel I should remind the Captain that we have precious little time to spend here on Tuchanka."

Corsin nodded. "I agree. We've got what we came for. Let's return him to the kral, gather our information and get out of here."

"Is that what this about, Kallux?" Taxalur narrowed his eyes and looked the younger krogan up and down. "You're here to hunt me down in exchange for a favor from Vartin?"

"Of course not!" Kallux objected vehemently. "I'm here because I was afraid you were in danger."

Taxalur shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Then why are you here?" Kallux asked with a hint of defeat.

"Because my time is short," Taxalur answered after a brief pause. "My final days are upon me, and I do not wish to spend them in the company of Raik. I wish to spend them here." The krogan looked up to the ruined library around them. "Where I belong."

Kallux stared in silence before speaking slowly. "You're dying?"

Taxalur gave him a small nod in return. "I'm fifteen hundred and seventy two years old and I can feel it approaching." He took a deep, calm breath. "It should be any day now."

Will shot a look at the Spectres to see they had stepped down from their push.

"Are you sick?" Kallux stepped closer to the elder krogan. "We can find a doctor."

"I am not ill, Kallux," he replied. "It is simply my time to join the Void."

"No, no," Kallux objected weakly. "There's gotta be something we can do."

Taxalur smiled slightly and shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Kallux. And I won't be accompanying you back to the Bastion, if that is truly why you were sent here."

Kallux looked to the side and shook his head. "We're tracking a dangerous fugitive and Vartin has information we need. Finding you was the only way he would give it up."

"A fugitive?" Taxalur looked to the turian and salarian and nodded knowingly. "I see. And why does Vartin have this information?"

"He's a weapons dealer," Corsin answered. "A turian named Narenthus Antarian."

Taxalur raised a hand to his chin. "Antarian... that name is familiar." He looked down and began mumbling quietly to himself. "Oh, yes... he's the one who provided the resources for the project..."

Will's eyes widened slightly. "You know who he is? Do you know what he sold to Raik?"

The elder krogan nodded and began to open his mouth when a small rumbling shook the walls and floor around them, sending a gentle rain of dust down from the upper floors. The squad raised their weapons instinctively and scanned the room. Will raised his arm and opened the comm link to the Kodiak.

"Tul, this is Will, do you read?"

"_Affirmative, Captain."_

"We just had a tremor here," Will informed him. "Are you getting any seismic readings? Is there an earthquake coming?"

"_Negative, sir, but I do see what you were talking about. It looks like some debris collapsed nearby." _The quarian talked at what seemed like a million words a minute. _"And it looks like there's some more shifting happening..."_

"'Shifting?'" Eleena asked with a hint nervousness in her voice.

"_Yes, I'm not sure, but.." _Tul fell silent for a moment. _"I think something is moving toward you."_

Will could feel a slight vibration growing in the floor below him. "We've got incoming, people!"

The squad was clearly already aware and looking over every inch of the chamber that towered around them. Will was holding his rifle on the third level and scanning across the ancient shelves when a cracking and clattering rang out behind him. He spun to face the door they had entered from and realized that whatever was coming to join them was headed up the same way the squad had.

"It's coming up behind us!" Vayren had heard the disturbance as well and was backpedaling away from the doors.

Will waved the squad into the room. "Get to cover!"

The group turned and ran for the closest overturned table or chunk of stone debris they could find. Will leapt over one of the heavy reading tables and took up position with his rifle aimed at the center of the split doors, his finger curled around the trigger. Corsin joined him behind the table with his turian assault rifle in the same position, but his eyes darting to all corners of the room just to be sure they were not going to be flanked. To his right, behind a fallen portion of column, Kallux was leaning out slightly from cover with his cannon humming. Taxalur grabbed Kallux's pistol from his holster and took up a position over the top of the column, his old eyes squinting in determination. Eleena and Vayren had found a large metal beam on the far left side of the room. A red hue appeared around Vayren's rifle as he activated his incendiary ammunition which formed a beautiful contrast to the blue and purple biotic halos forming around Eleena's hands. Will turned his attention back to the doorway where the noise had grown louder and dust was now shaking and falling from ledges surrounding it.

A near-deafening hiss exploded from the dark hallway as something enormous scrambled up from the stairwell they had ascended just minutes earlier.

"Kallux!" Will shouted. "Please don't tell me that-"

Before he could finish the doors burst from their hinges, taking chunks of wall with them as one of the half-insect, half-reptilian creatures they had met by the monorails came charging into the room. Unfortunately, this one was at least five times the size of the others. The beast dug its hind legs into the stone floor with ease and reared up, hissing angrily. On its hind legs, the creature stood at least ten feet tall.

"It's an arasik queen!" Kallux yelled to the others.

"No shit!" Eleena shouted in return.

Will shook his head. "Shoot it!"

Gunfire exploded from the weapon barrels around the room and sent a figurative tsunami of bullets into the arasik as it dropped down from its intimidation stance. The bullets practically bounced off the hard, organic armor of the beast, save for Kallux's cannon, which seemed to cause a small dent each time one of the projectiles hit. With another angry hiss, the arasik leapt from its position on the ground and up to one of the walkways a few stories up. Its claws dug into the floor and sent stone and books tumbling down to the ground as it scurried around to face the squad.

"We're not getting through that armor," Vayren reported.

Kallux redirected his aim toward the creature as it crawled across the wall. "Just aim for the legs!"

The arasik turned and hissed once again as it arched its neck toward Will and Corsin's cover. A stream of black liquid burst from its neck and splashed down onto the table as they dove to the side. A fine spray of the liquid splashed onto Will's leg and passed directly through his shielding to his armor. The dark red paint melted away to the bare silver metal of the plating. Luckily, the armor held. Will and Corsin slid into cover behind a different table as the first melted away from the acidic attack and locked their weapons onto the arasik's legs.

Taxalur's pistol overheated after unleashing a quick barrage into the creature's legs. "I've got something that might help in my camp!"

The elder krogan shoved the sidearm back into Kallux's holster and jumped out from their cover behind the column. Will could see the krogan's supplies in the far corner of the chamber. It was a long run and Taxalur clearly wasn't moving as fast as a krogan in his prime.

"No!" Kallux darted from cover and ran after Taxalur at full speed.

The arasik saw the two exposed krogan and leapt from the wall at the opprotunity, landing with a crash in front of Taxalur at the center of the room. The creature's claws ripped into the floor as it spun to face them. Taxalur let out a determined roar and dove to the side in an attempt to circumvent the arasik as Kallux readied his cannon and squeezed the trigger. Kallux aimed the heavy rounds at the creature's legs and, after a few repeated hits, finally tore through a chunk of armor and sent thick, green blood spraying from the back of the appendage. Will cursed to himself as Taxalur crossed in front of his line of fire and forced him to lay off the trigger. A shot from Vayren's sniper rifle ripped through one of the beast's hind legs a moment later, making it buckle slightly in pain from its two wounded appendages. The arasik let out a sound that fell somewhere between an enraged screech and a hiss.

"Nice hits! Keep it up!" Will shouted nervously as he waited patiently for Taxalur to clear from his shot.

Kallux roared as shot after heavy shot ripped into the beast's leg until it gave out and sent the arasik stumbling forward. Furious, the creature whipped out one of its legs toward Taxalur and struck him in the chest, sending him flying toward the far wall where Eleena and Vayren had taken up position. Kallux roared in bloodlust as Taxalur was cast aside and leaned his head forward to charge the queen. The twin omniblades at the front of Kallux's weapon ignited as he sprinted toward the arasik, the cannon still firing, but now wildly and off-target.

"Kallux, get into cover!" Will still held his fire.

The rest of the squad's weapons fell silent so that nothing but the thumping of Kallux's cannon, his angered roar, heavy footsteps and the pained screech of the arasik could be heard. The krogan leapt forward behind the weight of his cannon, aiming straight for the beast's throat, only to be swatted to the side by the weak and bloodied leg that he had crippled just moments before. Kallux rolled to the floor, sending shots in all directions and forcing the others to duck to avoid any stray bullets. The arasik hissed and scrambled toward the table where Will and Corsin were waiting with their rifles trained on its head. They fired off a few quick bursts before realizing that the creature was not intent on stopping. The human and turian jumped to their feet and sprinted to the right to avoid their raging foe.

Eleena's voice burst through the comms. "Look out!"

Will didn't have a chance to look for the danger before a massive piece of stone crashed to the ground a few feet to his side. He and Corsin rolled away in surprised and looked to the ceiling. After squinting to focus on the shifting debris he quickly identified their problem: a series of impact points from Kallux's cannon had destabilized the debris that lay over the skylight.

"Move!" Will shouted as loud as he could. "Get to the entrance hall!"

Will hugged his rifle to his chest and sprinted with Corsin at his side for the destroyed double-doors that the arasik had burst through. Kallux let out a grunt as he pulled himself up and fell in beside them as they passed by. Will looked over his shoulder to the far side of the room where Eleena, Vayren and a clearly disabled Taxalur were now cut off from the tunnel by the queen arasik. Will came to a stop a few feet from the hallway and turned back to his allies.

Eleena fired off a burst into the creature and caught Will's eye. "Go! We'll be okay!"

A metal support beam at least five feet wide and twenty feet long came crashing down between them. Will nearly ignored Eleena's demand, but stopped when the asari let out a yell of exertion as she lifted her hands and erected a small biotic shield around herself, the salarian and the wounded krogan. Will reluctantly turned and dashed the few remaining steps to the hallway where Kallux and Corsin were waiting.

"Where are the others?" Kallux shouted as Will passed by and nearly tripped into the hallway.

Will panted and turned back to see another few pieces of debris had fallen. "Biotic barrier," he managed to speak.

Seconds later a thunderous roar filled the chamber as the entirety of the ancient wreckage that covered the skylight came crashing down. A wall of dust rushed through the doorway, blinding Will, Corsin and Kallux as the heavy impact of falling debris deafened them. Will felt chunks of rock and other small pieces of rubble scatter past and around him as well as a few pieces of metal clattering onto the floor. More disturbingly, the whip and twang of flying metal rang out after a deep crunch. Will wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Corsin cry out in pain after a particularly loud collapse just outside the door. After about twenty seconds the sound of falling rubble gave way to the occasional pitter-patter of pebbles as they rolled off of newly formed mounds and onto the stone floor. Will could hear his heart racing as he stared into the milky light that shone in from the doorway, the dust slowly settling around him.

"_Captain! Is everything alright down there?"_ Tul's voice broke over the comms.

"_We just saw a collapse near your waypoints,"_ Shansa added nervously.

"Yeah, we had a cave-in. I'm okay, but I need to check on the others." Will switched to squad-wide broadcast and closed his eyes in an attempt to let his other senses catch up. "Everyone alright?"

As his eyes reopened he could vaguely see Kallux's silhouette climing over the pile of rubble just outside the hallway and into the chamber. "Fine," the krogan replied over the comms as he disappeared into the slowly disappearing blanket of dust.

"_We're... okay,"_ Eleena answered weakly over the comms.

Corsin let out a groan from a few feet away and Will realized that he was laying on his side near the door. Will hurried to to the turian's side and knelt down, waving the thin dust to the side as he looked him over.

"Corsin, can you hear me?" Will lowered his hand. He wasn't going to settle the dust any faster waving his arms around.

The turian let out a slight gasp of pain. "My.. my leg."

Will looked down his body and let out a small sigh of shock. A metal rod approximately a half an inch in diameter and nine inches or so long and pierced straight through Corsin's leg and become stuck.

"Fuck," Will cursed under his breath. "Can you move it?"

Corsin drew a deep, determined breath and pushed himself to his knees. It was hard to read emotion from the face of a turian, but Will was certain he was in extreme pain. Corsin gave the ground beside him a few pats with his hand to locate his rifle and, upon finding the grip, lifted his weapon and stowed it on his back.

"Give me a hand," the turian requested.

Will held out his arm and helped Corsin to his feet by holding his balance. The turian set his foot on the ground and shifted his weight onto the leg, only to shake his head in rejection.

"It's no good," Corsin admitted reluctantly. "I.. I need some help."

"Give me your arm." Will grabbed Corsin's arm and slung it over his shoulder to give him a place to set his weight. "Let's find the others."

The pair turned from the hallway to the destroyed doorway that led to the library and began a slow, paired limp. Will guided them over the small mound of rocks that had piled up by the entrance and stopped to survey their surroundings. The sun was now as painfully bright as it had been on the surface given the enormous hole that now gaped in the ceiling. Nearly every inch of the floor was covered with levels of debris ranging in height from a thin layer of dust to a couple meters. Will immediately looked to the far corner of the room where Kallux was just reaching the others.

"Just set me down here," Corsin grunted. "Get over there and make sure they're alright."

Will looked to the turian. "Are you sure? Your leg..."

"It's in deep. There's nothing you can do about it right now," the Spectre argued. "I need someone who knows what they're doing."

Will walked them to a slab of rock that Corsin could lean against. "We don't have a medic..."

"Then call for evac and we'll look for a doctor." Corsin waved him off as he situated himself on the slab and pulled his arm from Will's shoulder. "Go find the rest of the squad."

With a nod of acknowledgment, Will turned and hurried over the pieces of jagged debris and opened his comm to the shuttle again. "Shansa, Corsin is wounded and I'm moving to check on the others. Do you think you can land the shuttle down here?"

After a brief pause she replied. _"Yeah, I'll circle around and head down."_

Will sighed in relief as he looked around the room to where the motionless queen arasik lay crushed beneath a stone pillar that must have weighed tons. He jumped over a fallen metal beam into what appeared to be a circular refuge clear of debris. At the center of the non-cluttered patch was Eleena, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling. A few feet away Kallux knelt over Taxalur, blocking Will's view. Vayren stood at the back, his rifle stowed and his eyes looking down to the others in silence. Will stumbled to Eleena's side and looked down to her visor. Her eyes were closed but moving slightly.

"Eleena." Will touched her gloved hand with his.

"I'm fine," she replied weakly between breaths. "Just haven't... exerted my biotics like that... in a long time..."

Will nodded thankfully and glanced to where Kallux looked over Taxalur. His heart sank. The elder krogan's torso had been sliced clean open by the arasik's claws and orange blood poured from the wound onto the dirty floor. Kallux shook his head slightly, his expression somewhere between anger and guilt. He had never seen Kallux truly sad before, either. Perhaps this was it.

Will crawled up to Taxalur's side and looked to Kallux. "Is it..?"

Kallux looked from the elder to Will and nodded. "Won't be long, now."

"It's about time, really," Taxalur coughed. "Haven't been hurt in a fight in years..."

"Guess you can't change everything about a krogan," Kallux mused with a small chuckle.

Taxalur smiled and closed his eyes. "Kallux... I'm glad you decided to help Vartin." He let out a bloody cough, his speech slow and deliberate. "Seeing you with your 'squad'. Heh... you've made the krogan proud. You made me proud."

"I didn't even get to tell you the good stuff," Kallux muttered with a small frown.

"You didn't need to," Taxalur assured him. "I've always known you would find something great."

Above them the sound of thrusters peeked into the chamber and filled the room as the Kodiak began descending into the ruins of the library.

"Thank you for everything, my friend." Kallux stared down to the elder krogan.

Taxalur didn't respond.

Will looked up to Kallux to see the krogan had closed his eyes and was muttering something too quiet to be heard over the growing roar of the shuttle.

Eleena had pulled herself up and stepped up beside Will. "Should we bring him back to the Bastion?"

Kallux shook his head. "No." He opened his eyes and nodded toward a set of doors a few meters away. "I'll put him in one of the private study rooms and seal it shut."

Vayren cleared his throat and stepped up, speaking flatly and deliberately, but loud enough to be heard over the thrusters behind him. "We were sent here to retrieve Taxalur. If we don't return with him, Vartin may refuse to-"

"We'll get the information," Kallux interrupted with a growl. "I will not bring him back there."

"I agree." Will stood with a nod. "I'll help you move him, but we need to move fast. Corsin is wounded and needs a doctor." He turned to Eleena and Vayren and motioned to where Corsin was waiting across the room. "Help him into the shuttle."

Eleena nodded immediately and waved for Vayren to follow. The salarian waited momentarily as he debated arguing the point before conceding and jumping over the beam after Eleena. Kallux put his hands on Taxalur's shoulder and pulled him to a sitting position. Will moved to put his hands on the dead krogan's opposite side. The roar of stablizing thrusters indicated that the Kodiak had leveled off and was hovering to load in the squad somewhere in the middle of the chamber.

"Thank you," Kallux told Will simply.

Will looked to the krogan. "What for?"

"For being on my side," he replied gravely. "This is where he belongs."

* * *

This was the first time Will had been in a Citadel Military controlled installation. After loading the squad into the Kodiak, Shansa had quickly delivered Corsin, Will, Vayren and Tul'Sorrin to Ar'saan Station, the largest CDEM facility orbiting Tuchanka. Will, Vayren and Tul rushed Corsin to the medical center while Shansa shuttled Kallux and Eleena down to the surface where the krogan could deliver the news of Taxalur's death and, more importantly, retrieve their intel from Vartin. The turian was admitted to the medbay immediately and the attending physician was performing surgery to remove the metal rebar within minutes. It was amazing how quickly security had turned from hostile to willing servants after learning that not one, but two Spectres were passing through.

"It should be a short procedure," Vayren informed the others as he stepped into the observation room.

Will looked over to the salarian as he stared through the viewport to watch the already underway operation. Vayren's face was stoic and emotionless as always. If he had any personal feelings toward Corsin, he certainly did not show them. Will doubted that he did, however, as the salarian had seemed to show nothing but the attitude of professional cooperation toward Corsin since they had contacted the _Hyperion _crew. Will let his eyes wander over the salarian for a moment as he and Tul stood watching the operation in silence. The medical lights that filled the adjacent room gave a sheen to his dark green skin and black eyes that gave him the illusion of being wet. After a moment of being watched, Vayren gave Will a sideways glance and raised a brow.

"Yes?" He asked flatly.

Will shook his head and looked back through the viewport. "Sorry, kinda got lost in my thoughts."

"Captain, I'm getting a message from Kallux," Tul informed them.

The quarian activated his uniquely crimson omnitool and made a few taps on the screen to bring up his messages.

Tul'Sorrin let out a sigh of relief. "He got the intel. He's transmitting it now."

Vayren and Will shared a quick glance before stepping to the quarian's side and crowding around the omnitool curiously. After a short wait the data packet arrived and Tul opened the list of shipping manifests dating back nearly four years. He opened the most recent and final shipment and held out his arm to give them all a better view. The list mainly consisted of numbers that Will could not recognize: military designations of dozens of weapons he had never heard of. He looked to Vayren for his reaction and saw the salarian shaking his head slightly in disbelief.

"Tul'Sorrin, open up an earlier manifest," the Spectre ordered.

Tul closed the document and scrolled down to a delivery made two years ago. Vayren continued his bewildered stare.

"This... doesn't seem possible," the salarian admitted.

"What is it?" Will finally asked.

Vayren pointed to one of the items on the list. "This is an anti-armored vehicle weapon. That kind of hardware is prohibited for importation by the CDEM." His finger dropped to another sequence of numbers and letters. "And this... this is an incredibly versatile high-explosive compound, also illegal. And according to these records these deliveries had been not only routine, but growing in quantity."

Tul'Sorrin shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. How could that much illegal cargo possibly get through CDEM's screenings?"

Vayren narrowed his eyes. "The krogan must have falsified this information."

"Why would the krogan falsify records to indicate that they were receiving illegal shipments?" Will argued.

The Spectre clenched his jaw. "A fair point." He turned from Tul'Sorrin and toward the door. "Follow me. We're going to get this sorted out. Now."

Will and Tul didn't hesitate in running to catch up with the salarian as he marched determinedly from the medbay and into the hall. After a short walk the trio stopped at the elevator and waited as the car traveled to their level.

Will looked to Vayren curiously. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to have a chat with this station's commander," the salarian replied as the doors opened before them. "Because if this information is correct, this entire operation is either incompetent or corrupt. And I'm not sure which one I loathe more."

Vayren, Will and Tul stepped into the elevator and waited silently as it took them up to the command level in just a few seconds. A soft ping rang out as the doors parted to reveal a long hallway flanked by office doors that ended at a wide door labeled "Command Center." Vayren walked out the elevator and into the hall as though he had done so a hundred times already that day. Two armed guards, one asari and one turian, stood at either side of the Command Center doors and quickly blocked the squad's path as they approached. The asari looked down at them and held up a hand.

"Do you have permission to be on this level?" The asari looked over the three sternly.

Vayren came to a stop a few feet from the guards. "Agent Vayren, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. These two are with me."

The asari glanced to the turian briefly and shook her head. "I'm going to need to see-"

"Here." The salarian had already pulled up his identification on his omnitool. "Scan my damned authorization package if you need to, but right now you're just standing in my way."

The asari held fast for a second before taking a step to the side. "My apologies, Agent Vayren."

The turian turned to the door controls and entered a quick passcode that phased the control panel's orange hue to green.

"You're free to enter, sir," the turian informed them as he moved from the doorway.

The doors gave a gentle hiss as they slid apart and Vayren led the others into a small room much like the one the _Hyperion_ crew had stumbled upon in the Sommesh facility on Logasiri months earlier. A half dozen officers scattered around the room at computer terminals looked up as they entered, including a turian standing at the center of the room behind a large command console. The commander looked over his shoulder and, upon realizing the three newcomers were not members of his crew, turned to face them with crossed arms.

"Normally I _need_ to know who insists on barging onto the command deck," the turian informed the squad. "But my guards seem to have let you in despite the fact that you are clearly _not _members of my crew. Now I'm _curious_ to know."

"Spectre Vayren, that's who," Vayren answered. "Are you the commanding officer of this station?"

The turian seemed slightly taken aback, but nodded in response. "I- yes. Commander Firullus. What's the meaning of this incursion?"

"My associates and I would like to have a word with you in private," Vayren informed the commander.

Firullus blinked in surprise. "Yes... yes, of course." He stepped away from the command console and toward the squad. "My office is just down the hall."

The turian stepped passed the salarian, human and quarian and made his way out the door they had just entered. The squad turned and followed his lead to another security door half-way down the hall between the Command Center and the elevator. Firullus tapped a few buttons on his security console and waited as his ID was confirmed before opening the door and motioning for the others to enter.

"Please, have a seat," he requested.

Vayren looked to Will and Tul'Sorrin. "Let me handle this."

Tul shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever you say."

Will followed Vayren into the small office and looked around. It was utilitarian, as any military office would be, and lacked virtually any and all personalization. A plain, metal desk sat at the center of the room with two chairs on the side nearest the door and a slightly larger one on the opposite side. The only thing in the room that would indicate that it belonged to a single person was a picture frame on the desk that faced away from the door. Vayren stepped up beside the desk chairs and waved for Will and Tul to sit, which they did without argument. Firullus stepped in and shut the door behind him before rounding the desk and sitting straight and militarily.

"It's been a while since we've had a Spectre come out to visit," the turian admitted.

"Let's hope for the sake of galactic security that you won't meet another for a long time," Vayren began as he looked to Will and Tul'Sorrin. "My... associates and I have a few questions we were hoping you could answer, Commander Firullus."

The turian nodded once and somehow managed to make his posture even straighter. "I'll answer what I can."

The Spectre glanced to Tul and motioned toward the computer terminal on the desk. "Tul'Sorrin, would you pull up the relevant data?"

Tul nodded and activated his omnitool. "Transmitting the information now," he reported.

Firullus looked from Vayren to his monitor and activated the screen. "What am I looking at?"

"Four years of deliveries made to Tuchanka's surface," Vayren answered. "The contents and the IDs of the ships that brought them in."

Firullus narrowed his eyes and scanned the screen in silence. He looked perplexed for a moment before reaching forward and bringing up another window. His expression quickly changed back to normal, then shifted his gaze back to Vayren with a look of slight confusion.

"I... I'm not sure I see the problem, Agent Vayren," the commander answered slowly.

Vayren narrowed his eyes. "Did the CDEM intentionally let these illegal materials through, or did you simply let _hundreds_ of deliveries take place without searching a single ship to verify its contents?"

Firullus shook his head. "Agent, as I'm sure you are aware, Spectres are permitted to move any materials to or from Tuchanka they see fit."

Will perked up in surprise. "I'm sorry, what?"

The commander nodded to his monitor. "According to our records, the ships that made these deliveries provided appropriate Spectre authorization and were allowed to move cargo to and from Tuchanka uninhibited." The turian looked to his three confused guests and attempted to explain further. "It's standard procedure for Spectre vessels. The ship you arrived on, the..." He pulled up another window. "_Hyperion,_ was given the same security clearance."

"Commander," Vayren raised a hand to stop the turian from speaking further. "Who is the Spectre that authorized these vessels?"

Firullus looked back to his monitor. "Four separate ships were used in the deliveries in question, all authorized by Spectre Narenthus Antarian." He recognized the problem and looked to the others. "Forgive me... I was under the assumption that you were aware these vessels had Spectre clearance."

Vayren spoke slowly and deliberately as though he was struggling to form each word. "Commander, I would like a copy of your records for our investigation."

"Of course," the turian answered. "Is there anything else I can answer for you?"

Tul'Sorrin raised his omnitool to retrieve the data.

"No. Thank you for your cooperation, Commander Firullus." Vayren glanced to Will. "But my comrades and I will need to use your communications center in an hour or two."

Will raised a brow. "We will?"

"Yes," Vayren answered. "We have a few questions we need to ask the Council."


	8. Chapter 8

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 8**

_**Ar'saan Station, in orbit over Tuchanka**_

As someone who had lived his entire spacefaring life in the Attican Traverse and Terminus Systems, Will knew almost nothing about the all-politically-powerful Council. He was aware that it was made up of an asari, turian and salarian, and that they had only the smallest interest in the well being of his former colony home of Arvuna. He had rationalized this by noting to himself that, in terms of raw numbers, the amount of people under their governance that actually saw or interacted with the Council was a handful at most. Two of those people, however, were standing before Will at this very moment.

Corsin's operation had been a relatively simple procedure and the doctor had discharged him after giving the turian a long list of instructions to ensure his leg would heal properly over the next couple of days. Vayren had wasted no time informing Corsin of the new developments in their search for Antarian and the pair agreed that a conference with the Council was paramount. Will, Vayren and Corsin all agreed that they could not jump to the conclusion that Antarian was a rogue Spectre, but it was hard to ignore the evidence. The Spectre security network was virtually impenetrable, and Vayren believed that tunneling into it undetected so many times over four years was simply impossible given the ever-updating security systems.

A quick hour after Corsin was discharged, the three found themselves waiting patiently in the communications center that Commander Firullus had graciously given them free reign over. Vayren and Corsin stood side-by-side in front of a large viewscreen as they waited for the Council to assemble for their conference. Will stood just outside of the vid-range to watch both the Spectres and the screen. He hadn't bothered to argue for a voice in the conference and was certain that he would have nothing to say that Corsin and Vayren would not convey more professionally. Nevertheless, Corsin had given him a quick overview of how the meeting would go down. The turian gave a small laugh of surprise when Will had asked for the names of the Council members, but quickly recomposed himself and answered, much to Will's relief. After a few minutes of waiting, Corsin glanced to Vayren and shifted his weight with a small grunt. Will was certain that the turian's wound was painful, despite whatever anesthetics he had been given.

"You really think opening with an accusation is the best idea?" Vayren asked as he looked back to the turian.

"Of course," Corsin replied bitterly. "The only way to get the Council to pay attention is to hit them with the heavy stuff."

The salarian looked back to the screen. "I hope you're right."

The screen pinged softly to indicate that their transmission was being established. The orange holoscreen flickered lightly and the image of the Council filled the screen. There was the asari, Tevos, the leader of the Council and beside her was the turian representative, Sparatus. On her other side stood Valern, the newest and youngest member of the Citadel Council. The Spectres waited for the image to sharpen before bowing their heads respectfully, a gesture the Council returned quickly.

"_Agent Rentarius, Agent Vayren,"_ Tevos greeted them with a diplomatic smile.

"_Ar'saan Station?"_ Sparatus inquired. _"That's not exactly where I expected this operation to lead you."_

"I wouldn't have guessed it either," Vayren replied. "Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice, Councilors."

Valern raised an irritated brow._"Well, with a request so urgent, how could we not?"_

Will didn't think he was going to like Valern.

"I'll try to make this quick," Corsin shot back.

"_Mm. Your message stated that you would like to discuss a significant development in your mission," _Tevos informed them. _"Is that correct?"_

"Yes, Councilor," Vayren replied with just a hint of nervousness. "Agent Rentarius, would you care to-"

"Absolutely," Corsin interrupted. He turian raised his omnitool and tapped a few keys. "I'm sending you all a report that we collected from the CDEM. As you can see, this report seems to suggest something quite shocking."

The image of Tevos reached forward to retrieve the file on the Council's screen. All three Councilors gave the data a quick look-over and shared knowing looks.

"So," Corsin began. "Is Narenthus Antarian the greatest hacking specialist in the galaxy, or did you forget to tell us a thing or two about him?"

Valern and Sparatus looked to Tevos and the asari simply raised a hand to indicate that she would answer for them. _"We apologize for the deception. We were hoping that this mission could be completed without this information coming to light."_

"Yes, well, we're sorry to have dashed your hopes," Corsin replied sarcastically. "How could you keep information this crucial from us?"

"_The Council must think of galactic stability before all else," _Tevos answered calmly. _"Word of a rogue Spectre is not something that inspires order among the people."_

Vayren cleared his throat. "During our preliminary investigation we found no evidence of Antarian's involvement with the Spectres..."

"_Yes,"_ Sparatus replied slowly. _"We... scrubbed all data concerning his involvement with the Spectres from any databases he had access to or was referenced in."_

"But you forgot to clean the CDEM's records," Corsin finished.

"_Actually, no,"_ Valern corrected as he looked to Tevos. _"We should tell them everything."_

The asari nodded. _"I suppose that would be for the best, as our secret has already been exposed."_ She turned her attention back to the Spectres. _"We were aware of Agent Antarian's business as an arms dealer while he operated as a Spectre. For all we knew his business was entirely legal, and given that it operated in the Terminus Systems we had little interest in monitoring it."_

"But it wasn't all legal," Vayren argued. "Not only did he make sales to clans on Tuchanka violating Citadel sanctions, he did so by exploiting his authority as a Spectre."

"_Information the Council was unaware of until now,"_ the asari added. _"Which means there is most likely more that he kept from us."_

"If I may ask yet another question," Corsin interjected. "You haven't told us the specific reason Antarian was stripped of his Spectre status. You also haven't given us the evidence that proves he instigated the civil war on Sharkeer. Should we assume that those are linked?"

"_You don't need to assume, Agent Rentarius,"_ Sparatus answered. _"We received word from a reliable source indicating Antarian had instigated the war and we relieved him of his Spectre status shortly afterward."_

"A 'reliable source,' huh?" Corsin asked, unconvinced.

"_I am sorry, Agent Rentarius, Agent Vayren." _Tevos averted her eyes momentarily. _"For the security of the Council and other Spectres, we cannot elaborate any further."_

Sparatus raised his chin. _"However, I assure you that we have not withheld any information that might aid in your hunt for Antarian."_

Corsin shook his head. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe." He looked up to each of the Councilors and narrowed his eyes.

"That said," Vayren interjected quickly. "We are Spectres. We are capable. And we will complete the mission, Councilors."

Tevos nodded once. _"Good. We are confident in your abilities, agents. Now, if there is nothing else you wish to discuss.."_

Corsin let out an irritable sigh. "That's it. Thank you for your time."

"_Good luck, agents."_

Tevos's image reached forward to an unseen control panel and terminated the call. Vayren did the same, turning off the communications console and looking to Corsin.

"So what did we learn from this?" Vayren asked.

"Sounds like we learned that you can't trust the Council," Will remarked as he stepped up to them from the shadows.

Corsin scoffed. "That might be what you two learned. I was given that lesson years ago."

Vayren let out a slightly offended sigh. "The Council had their reasons. And does knowing that Antarian was once a Spectre really affect our mission?"

"Look, Vayren, you're new to the game," Corsin began as he turned and paced back and forth. "And I'll admit... I once thought like you do. But the Council is not infallible. _We_ are not infallible."

Will looked between the two and raised a brow. "'New to the game?'"

Vayren irritably crossed his arms. "I received Spectre status nine months ago. Agent Rentarius has been a Spectre for two decades. Apparently he thinks that makes him the more superior operative."

"Ah, putting words in my mouth. Very professional." Corsin stopped and stared at the salarian. "I have more experience as Spectre. More perspective."

"You're not more experienced," Vayren retorted. "You're just a cynical, old soldier who is past his prime."

Will rolled his eyes. "Can you two stop with the posturing? We've got work to do."

The Spectres glanced to one another and then back to Will.

"Yes, fine," Vayren answered. "We need to establish a new course of action."

Corsin shook his head. "Let's run over what we've got."

"Honestly? I don't think we got much from Tuchanka," Will said with a shrug. "Knowing that Antarian was a Spectre gives us perspective, but no new intel."

"Unfortunately, I agree," Vayren admitted. "But knowing that Antarian was supplying, or even constructing, the caliber of weapons that were sold to Raik is... unsettling."

"I think it gives us a better idea of what we're dealing with," Corsin added. "It's obvious why they put two Spectres on this assignment."

Will nodded in agreement. "So what's our next move?"

"We still have the location of Antarian's third and final known facility." Corsin pulled up his omnitool to retrieve the data. "I suggest we make that our priority and set course immediately."

"Actually," Vayren began, "I believe there is another issue we should discuss first."

Will raised his brows. "Go on."

"We had a close call on this excursion." The salarian nodded to the medical wrap on Corsin's leg. "If we hadn't been so close to the CDEM, it would have taken hours, maybe days, to get him proper medical attention. Obviously, that would have severely delayed our mission." Vayren glanced to Will. "We're seeking a dangerous foe, Captain Hume. We need someone with medical training on the crew."

"Yeah, I agree," Will said with a sigh. "We nearly lost Shansa to a few simple gunshot wounds while we were gunning for Sommesh. But doctors are expensive, especially the ones willing to run with a merc group. Or a Spectre."

Corsin's mandibles twitched a bit. "I... might know somebody."

Vayren looked to the turian expectantly. "Someone you've worked with before?"

"On more than one occasion," Corsin answered with a nod. "She's a combat medic I served with back when I was still in the turian military."

Will crossed his arms. "Can we trust her?"

"I hope so," Corsin chuckled. "She's my sister. It's been a while, but we still keep in touch."

"Excellent." Vayren seemed pleased for the first time in hours. "Do you know where to find her?"

"As luck would have it, I do." Corsin activated his omnitool once again. "Tyrixis has been working as a freelance field doctor since she left the service. A few months ago I informed her of the outbreak of civil war on Sharkeer and she booked passage immediately. Last time we spoke she was still there. Antarian's little game has torn the place apart."

Will pursed his lips for a moment. "Sounds dangerous."

Vayren smirked. "That's what we have a fireteam for." He turned his attention to Corsin and gave him a nod. "I like the idea."

"I definitely wouldn't mind having a medic on board," Will admitted as he looked to the turian. "Let's get back to the _Hyperion. _We'll plot a course for Sharkeer as soon as we're done refueling."

Corsin turned and headed toward the door. "Sounds good. I need to take some weight off this damned leg."

Will waited for Vayren to fall in behind Corsin before doing the same. He took one last glance back at the communications console then exited the room and headed back toward the elevator that would take them to the docking level.

* * *

The rest of the crew was already on the _Hyperion _when Will, Corsin and Vayren had arrived. The four others were sitting around the table in the crew's quarters, listening intently as Kallux told them story after story of his exploits as a young krogan. Silence fell over them as Will and Spectres appeared in the doorway.

"Were you able to get out of Rakarn on good terms?" Will inquired as he stepped into the room with Corsin and Vayren at his side.

Kallux raised the glass in his hand and downed the last of his krogan alcohol. "Vartin was not happy about Taxalur. But we did find him, as he had requested." The krogan nodded lightly. "We departed... amicably."

"Good." Will glanced to Tul'Sorrin. "So, Tul, have you told them anything about the information we gathered from Firullus?"

Shansa and Eleena looked to the quarian quizzically. He averted his gaze and looked up to Will. "No, Captain. I figured it would be best to wait until you had spoken with the Council."

Eleena blinked. "The Council? The _Citadel _Council?"

"In all their pompous glory," Corsin replied.

Shansa's eyes grew wide as she stared at Will in disbelief. "_You_ talked to the Council?"

Will quickly shook his head. "Of course not. Corsin and Vayren took care of that."

Kallux narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And why were you talking to the Council?"

Vayren let out a sigh and took a step forward. "After receiving the shipping manifests from Raik and discussing them with the station's commander, we were led to believe that... Narenthus Antarian is a rogue Spectre."

"A suspicion the Council confirmed just a few moments ago," Corsin added as he crossed his arms, clearly still irritated.

The _Hyperion_ crew sat up in surprise and became visibly upset. Will bit his bottom lip nervously as he looked around the table.

"So it's true," Tul'Sorrin finally spoke. "You heard the confirmation yourself, Captain?"

Will crossed his arms and looked to the ground. He gave a small nod of acknowledgment. "Yes. They were trying to cover their own asses. Didn't want anyone to know one of their Spectres was throwing entire planets into upheaval."

Corsin shook his head. "It's not the first time."

"So this isn't just some arms dealer we're looking for." Eleena's eyes darted around the table and then back to Will.

"Nope," Will affirmed. "It's an arms dealer who had all the resources of a Spectre up until a few months ago."

"That's not so bad," Shansa said with a hopeful smile. "Project Sommesh was run by batarian special forces, remember?"

Vayren nodded. "That's true. And you all managed to destroy them _without_ the help of two Spectres."

"We're not backing off the mission." Will stepped up to the center of the room. "Antarian is on the run and we've only scratched the surface of his operations." He placed his hands firmly on the table and looked to the squad. "We're not gonna let him keep up this sick game he's playing."

After a few moments of silence, Eleena nodded. "You're damn right we're not."

Will gave her a sideways glance and small smile.

Kallux's eyes were filled with determination. "Where are we headed next?"

"Sharkeer," Will answered as he stood back up and stepped away from the table.

Tul'Sorrin sat up in his chair. "Are we looking for evidence?"

"Not quite," Corsin answered. "Captain Hume, Vayren and I agreed that with the mission stakes as high as they are, we're in need of a medical professional on the crew."

"Corsin's sister is a field doctor," Will explained as he looked to the turian. "We believe she's working on Sharkeer."

Corsin nodded and raised his omnitool. "I sent her a message few minutes ago. Hopefully we'll get a response that confirms we're headed to the right place."

Shansa smiled hopefully. "Are you sure she'll help?"

"Luckily she owes me a favor or two," the turian answered. "It might take a little convincing, but she's worth it. Best combat medic I've ever worked with."

Will glanced to Shansa. "Are we ready to depart?"

The pilot activated her omnitool and looked over a few pages of information. "We're done with refueling. If I start now I can be done with the pre-flight checklist and underway in ten minutes."

"Do it," Will ordered. "Everyone else, rest up. If the situation on Sharkeer is as bad as the reports suggest, we might have to go in hot."

Will stood to the side and watched in silence as the crew filed out. Shansa and Eleena hurried to the bridge to begin their departure preparations while Kallux headed back to cargo bay. The Spectres crossed the hall to the bunk room where they could work at the meeting table and write up their after action reports. Tul simply walked to the far wall of the crew's quarters and sat at his info console. Will followed him and leaned against the wall beside the large computer terminal.

The quarian glanced to his side. "Captain."

Will motioned toward the computer. "Tul, I need you to do some digging for me. I need anything you can find on Sharkeer and the current state of the war." He paused momentarily. "And see if there is any information floating around on Tyrixis Rentarius."

"Corsin's sister?" Tul had already begun to type away at his console.

"Just wanna know who we're looking for," Will assured him.

The quarian nodded. "I'll forward anything I find to you."

"Thanks."

Will watched Tul work for a few seconds before turning and stepping into the forward hall. His body was starting to ache from the earlier hours of exertion. With a satisfying stretch he decided to make his way to the cargo hold and strip down out of his combat suit. Kallux was standing at his workbench when Will stepped into the cargo bay, diligently working on his cannon as always. Will felt a pang of sorrow for the krogan's loss and changed his course from his own locker to Kallux's. The krogan's eyes darted to the human briefly as he approached, but quickly returned to the task at hand.

"Sometimes the maintenance on this thing makes me wonder if it's worth using," Kallux grumbled.

Will chuckled lightly. "That thing does more damage than the rest of us combined. I think it's worth the inconvenience."

The krogan smirked lightly as he looked over the half-assembled weapon. "Don't sell yourselves short. This thing packs a punch, but your knack for command, Eleena's biotics and Tul'Sorrin's tech all working together is what really gives us our edge."

"I'm glad you appreciate my ability to yell at people," Will mused.

"You haven't gotten us killed yet," Kallux countered with a grin.

Will nodded with a soft smile. "Kallux, you okay?"

The krogan's hands paused for a moment. "I'll be fine."

"You sure? Taxalur clearly meant a lot to you."

Kallux pulled the troublesome heat sink from its compartment on the cannon and looked the piece over. "He did. But I'll be okay." He set the component on the workbench and turned to face Will. "I never expected to see him again after I left Tuchanka. It was... nice to at least get the chance to say goodbye."

"I wish I'd had the same chance with my father." Will frowned lightly.

Kallux studied the human's face. "You've never talked about him. At least not to me."

Will nodded. "He died before his time."

"Can't say Taxalur did," Kallux admitted with a sigh. "He was old and stubborn. He had a lot of enemies both in and outside of Raik." The smirked lightly. "I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did."

Will stepped forward and gave the krogan a slap on the shoulder. "You've done him proud, Kallux. He said it himself."

"I'm not done yet, Hume." Kallux grinned and turned back to his work.

* * *

Over the next few hours Will sat in the loft reading through all the information Tul had forwarded him on Sharkeer. The world had started out a gateway trading hub between the Traverse and Terminus Systems, but a powerful batarian family had eventually risen atop all the others and taken control of the government. The family was in power for nearly three hundred years until the rebellions started just a few months earlier. The majority of the fighting was taking place in the capital, Q'oorin. The few news reels Tul could find showed that the city of three million inhabitants was in rapid decline, so much so that the most recent images looked nearly as bad as Tuchanka.

Tul had also been able to find a substantial amount of information on their possible new recruit. Much of Tyrixis's service record was public, and very impressive. She had joined the turian military at the age of sixteen and entered the medical officer training program a year later. She had served on the front lines of dozens of conflicts both as a combat medic early in her career and a field doctor later. Six years ago, at the age of thirty seven, she had retired from active duty at the rank of Major with numerous commendations for her service. After that, however, information was scarce. Corsin had mentioned that her work took her to the fringes of civilized space, and her lack of a trail after retiring from the military was a strong indicator that this was the case. Will was still sifting through documents when the bracelet on his wrist began blinking to indicate an incoming transmission on his omnitool.

He activated the call. "This is Will."

"_Captain Hume, I received a response from Tyrixis." _It was Corsin.

"What's the word, Corsin?" Will continued to look over his holopad.

"_She's willing to help, but we're going to have to extract her from Q'oorin. She's deep in no man's land operating a triage center for wounded on both sides."_

"And here I thought things would be easy," Will joked. "Shouldn't be a problem. Tell her to expect us within the next solar day."

"_Sounds good."_

Will terminated the call just as a soft knock sounded from the entrance hatch.

"Come on up," he called.

The latch spun and unlocked before rising open. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Shansa had poked her head up cautiously.

Will smiled and stood up from the couch. "I wouldn't have said, 'Come on up,' if you were." He held a hand out for her.

She reached up and took the hand with a smile. "Thanks." She climbed up into the small room with Will's help. "We've got a good half hour before we're in range of the Aralakh Relay. Wanted to do some folding to pass the time."

Shansa turned to the compartment on the wall where she kept her origami paper and selected a few sheets. Will took a seat back on the couch and picked up his tablet as he watched her.

"I spent a lot of time today thinking about the colony," Will mentioned.

Shansa looked over her shoulder and raised her brows concernedly. "Oh?"

"Just seeing Kallux and Taxalur... made me think a lot about my dad. And home."

"I miss them too." The pilot set her origami paper back down on the shelf and turned to face Will. "But look how far we've come since then."

Will smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I think they'd be proud."

Shansa grinned and dropped down next to Will on the couch. "Are you kidding? My mom would have been _pissed_ if I'd told her I got shot three times and ruined a perfectly good shirt."

Will let out a small laugh and shook his head. "She definitely would have given us a stern lecture on how hard it is to wash blood out of clothes."

"And don't get me started on your dad's talks about trigger discipline." Shansa closed her eyes and leaned her head on Will's shoulder with a sigh. "This is gonna be a tough one, isn't it?"

He took in a deep breath and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a gentle sideways hug. "Probably. But I think we can do it. So long as you don't get shot up again."

Shansa giggled softly and nodded. "Yeah, I'll pass on that. The scars are pretty cool, but I think three is enough for me." After a few moments she let out a sigh and released herself from Will's arm. "You gonna be okay, Will?"

He nodded as she stood and stepped up to the shelf to retrieve her origami paper. "I'm fine. Thanks, Shan."

She dropped down onto the ladder with a warm smile and give him a small wave as she descended back down to the bunkroom.


	9. Chapter 9

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 9**

_**MSV Hyperion, en route to Sharkeer, Somir System**_

Corsin stood at his locker contemplating which weapon set he would bring to the surface. After a long bout of deliberation he decided on his rifle, as always, and his shotgun for close-quarters effectiveness. Urban environments offered a vast array of potential combat zones, so he made a mental note to advise Vayren in bringing his sniper rifle. The rest of the squad would provide a nice even mix to round out their firepower. The turian nodded to himself and shut the locker door. They wouldn't be arriving for a few more hours, but he liked to have this sort of thing planned out ahead of time. Corsin turned to head back toward the forward hall and let out a grunt of pain. His leg was sore as hell and he was going to have to administer some sort of pain numbing agent before they departed. He shook his head and walked with a small limp to exit the cargo bay. The others would still be asleep in the bunkroom, he imagined. Years of military training had hammered the need for extensive sleep out of his system to the point where he could function at top performance and efficiency with only a few hours each night. He turned left and into the crew's quarters only to stop in the doorway, slightly surprised.

"Tul'Sorrin. I didn't expect anyone else to be awake already," Corsin said as he entered the room.

The quarian was working at his terminal, as always, and glanced over his shoulder to greet the turian with a nod. "Well, If I'm awake, I'm probably here," he advised as he turned back to the monitor. "Not a huge sleeper."

"Heh, me neither."

Corsin crossed the room to the kitchenette and opened up the pantry in search of some morning nutrition. He fingered through a few boxes and packets before shaking his head in dissatisfaction.

"You really don't have a lot of variety in the dextro foodstuffs," he commented.

Tul'Sorrin shrugged to himself as he typed away, busy at work. "I don't have much need for variety. Growing up on the Fleet we didn't have the space to produce 'luxury' food. So it's never been much of an interest of mine."

"Hmm." Corsin grabbed a box of bland-looking nutrient bars. "Interesting. What kind of things did you eat?"

"Anything that filled you up and didn't take much room to grow." Tul chuckled lightly. "So nothing from livestock."

"That's a shame. I was hoping you'd have stocked a few nice Palavenian steaks," Corsin jested.

"I'm sure you can find a supplier on Omega if it's that important to you," Tul informed the turian and shook his head as he mumbled at the screen in front of him.

Corsin retrieved a nutrient bar from the box in his hand and unwrapped it carefully, eying the gray chunk of food. He nibbled at the brittle substance and, upon finding it suitable, looked over to the quarian as he tapped away at his keyboard.

"So, you work on omnitool translators, right?"

Tul'Sorrin nodded affirmatively. "That's correct." He glanced over his shoulder. "Who manufactured your omnitool?"

Corsin looked off to the side for a moment of thought. "One of the guilds in the Armali Council, I think."

The quarian nodded happily. "I was contracted on their proprietary translators. Unless you installed your own translation software, you're probably running some of my code."

"Wow," the turian looked down at his wrist. "So why fight with a merc band? I can't imagine you were hurting for credits."

Tul'Sorrin continued his work in silence for a few moments. "I have my reasons."

Corsin eyed the quarian curiously. "Such as?"

Tul glanced back to the turian briefly. "Perhaps... another time." He looked the Spectre up and down before looking back to his monitor.

"Well, alright..." The turian finished off his nutrient bar and placed the box back in the cabinet. "It was nice chatting." Corsin walked to the door and glanced back to the the quarian. "My gear calls."

Tul nodded silently and continued on with his work.

* * *

"We're away!" Shansa reported over the helmet comms from the cockpit of the Kodiak.

"Airlocks are sealed," Tul'Sorrin added. "The _Hyperion _is in full lockdown."

Will looked around the cabin of the dropship through his visor and watched the rest of the squad. They all stood patiently with their hands firmly grasping the safety grips that dangled from the ceiling. The Kodiak shook as it escaped the gravity of Sharkeer's second moon and set course for the planet itself. The _Hyperion_ was secured on the surface of the uninhabited moon behind them with onlit's a baseline systems running. The plan was to keep the ship as hidden as possible until they had completed their mission on the surface of Sharkeer... a mission Will hoped would be quick. Corsin had found a contact used by the Spectres imbedded with the rebellion movement that had forwarded them valuable information. They would be landing in Q'oorin, the capital of the planet's government. The government was unrecognized by the Citadel Council, as it was technically located within the Terminus Systems, but with a population in the tens of millions the planet was nothing to be scoffed at. Corsin's contact had forwarded them the latest reported zones covered by anti-aircraft weaponry to allow them a safe approach into the city. After some doubt from the others, the turian had assured them that the source was trustworthy.

"Alright, we'll be hitting the atmosphere in about five minutes," Shansa informed them as she and Tul'Sorrin exited from the cockpit to the cabin.

Will nodded as they circled up with the rest of the squad. With the Spectres flanking him on either side, Will activated his omnitool to run over the final details of the mission.

"Alright, the goal is to do this quickly and quietly."

He tapped a few buttons on his omnitool and transferred a map of Q'oorin to the briefing screen that hung on the wall of the Kodiak. Will lowered his wrist and stepped up next to the screen to talk while the others looked over the map.

"Corsin was able to outline the areas that we believe to be covered with AA installations," Will continued as a series of red zones appeared on the map. "Obviously, we'll be avoiding those. He also received coordinates from his sister, Tyrixis, giving us a rough estimate of her location in the city."

A blue waypoint blinked up a few hundred meters inside one of the red zones.

Eleena's mic opened as she glanced from the map to Will. "I take it we won't be flying up to her doorstep."

"You'd be correct," Will affirmed. "However, we were able to spot a decent landing zone about seven hundred meters to the southeast, here." Another waypoint appeared, this one green. "It's surrounded by residential buildings that should deter anyone from spotting or meddling with the Kodiak while we move in to retrieve Tyrixis. Shansa, you'll fly us in through the holes in AA coverage and wait at the landing zone. If all goes according to plan, we'll be in and out in twenty minutes."

"So I'm going to land and wait by myself?" Shansa crossed her arms. "Last time we did that, I got three holes in my chest."

Will nodded slowly. "True. But this time, you'll have the engines running so you can get the hell out of there if needed."

Kallux gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Besides, the whole reason we're here is to get a doctor! Imagine how much quicker you'd get fixed up."

The squad remained silent before Shansa let out a small laugh and shook her head, allowing the others finally unleash their chuckles.

The redhead looked up to the krogan and nodded. "Thanks, Kallux. You always know how to make me feel better about nearly dying."

Will smiled and cleared his throat to draw the squad's attention once again. "If we hit the ground and find evidence of nearby action we'll send you back into the air until we're ready for exfil."

Shansa looked back to Will and nodded. "Okay. I'll keep all the scanners running as well."

"Good thinking. Now, any other questions?" Will looked around the circle with a raised brow.

"Are we expecting opposition?" Tul inquired.

"It's hard to say," Corsin replied regrettably. "We're entering an area of the city no one controls. That either means its constantly being fought over, or there's nothing there worth sacrificing men for."

"We'll certainly have a better idea once we hit the ground," Vayren added. "But reports are scarce at the moment."

Will reactivated his omnitool to remove the map from the screen and send it to Shansa's nav console. "And one more thing." He lowered his arm and looked to each of them. "Don't shoot unless you have to. This isn't our fight, and I'd like to keep it that way."

The others nodded in agreement.

"We should be hitting atmosphere any time now," Shansa said as she turned and ducked back into the cockpit. "Tul, give me a hand with the electronic warfare suite."

The quarian darted to the copilot's chair and began typing and swiping at the screens. "Looking clear so far."

The shuttle started to shake as it bore into the light atmosphere that surrounded Sharkeer.

"Everyone strap in," Will ordered.

The squad dropped to the troop benches and reached for their safety harnesses without a word of objection. With a series of clicks and snaps the locks connected and secured them to their seats as the shaking of the Kodiak grew stronger. Will could see into the cockpit where Shansa and Tul talked to one another over their private channel about the progress of their descent and, presumably, anything their scanners were picking up along the way. Will could feel the artificial gravity phase off as the weight of the planet took over. It was noticeably lighter, maybe eighty-five percent of Earth's, but it would function well enough for a short mission.

"Leveling out," Shansa reported. "We're about a minute from the outskirts of the city."

"Understood." Will glanced to the rest of the squad. "Let's do this one by the books."

"By the books?" Eleena laughed from her seat on the perpendicular bench. "When have we ever done something by the books?"

Will smirked. "I thought it might be fun to change things up and give it a try."

"I'm picking up the AA batteries on long-range scanners," Tul'Sorrin informed them. "Looks like we should be able to skirt around them."

The shuttle gave a slight drop as it hit a pocket of turbulence. Will closed his eyes and drew a deep, calming breath.

"ETA?" Will opened his eyes once again.

"Should hit the LZ in about two minutes," Shansa answered.

They continued in silence for a few seconds before a warning siren began to radiate from the cockpit.

"That can't be right," Tul'Sorrin muttered.

"What's the problem?" Will called nervously.

"We're getting traced," Shansa answered.

If that answer wasn't enough to worry Will, Shansa's tone was. Whenever things in the cockpit were particularly difficult she fell into a state of extreme concentration and focus. It reflected clearly in the tone of her voice, and the tone was more than apparent now.

Kallux gripped his safety harness. "Traced? What does traced mea-"

"We've got a lock!" Tul'Sorrin interrupted. "Enabling electronic countermeasures!"

"Too late!" Shansa yelled as the Kodiak jerked to the side.

Shansa's attempt at manual evasion nearly worked. An explosion shook the shuttle and sent it twisting off its path as she struggled to keep the Kodiak in the air. The shuttle shook violently after a few seconds with a hissing and popping coming from outside the hull to round things out. Sirens began blaring from the flight control panels in the cockpit.

"Rear thrusters are hit," Shansa reported quickly, evenly and calmly. "Port-side is not responding. Starboard is wavering between twenty and thirty percent capacity."

Will clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, hoping that the rattling hull was not severely damaged as well.

"We're not getting any more locks!" Tul'Sorrin was not as collected as Shansa. "But there's no way we're staying in the air at this-"

"I'm setting us down," Shansa interjected.

The Kodiak, which had already begun descending involuntarily, nearly dropped out of the sky as Shansa nosed them into a sharp decline. Will could see a portion of the forward viewport from his seat and shook his head slightly as he saw the ground approaching far too fast. The forward thrusters ignited hard as Shansa nosed up and attempted to stop their fall just meters above the rooftops of the war-torn structures of Q'oorin.

"Hold on!" Shansa shouted.

Will drew in a deep breath as the Kodiak impacted the ground and slid with a grating screech as the metal hull tore into the street. With the forward thrusters burning at full force the shuttle halted only a second or two after touching ground, sending Will jerking to his side as momentum continued to pull him forward.

Shansa panted into her mic and nodded. "Heh, no problem."

After shaking his head, Will looked around the cabin to see everyone strapped in and seemingly safe. "Everyone alright?"

Eleena raised a gloved hand and rubbed her neck. "Fucking whiplash..."

Corsin had already unbuckled himself and jumped to his feet. "Better than on the ship." He adjusted himself on his wounded leg. "Gotta love the low-grav."

The others pulled themselves up as Will stood and leaned into the cockpit. "Shansa, how bad?"

The pilot shook her head. "The rear thrusters are out. Won't know the extent of the damage until Eleena and I can take a look at them."

Will nodded and shifted his attention to Tul'Sorrin. "Anything on the scanners?"

Tul let out a small groan and shook his left hand. It looked like he might have hit it against part of the console in the crash landing. "Multiple heat signatures in the area... most likely soldiers. Nothing within fifty meters, though." He shook his head and flipped through a few windows. "I don't know how we were hit... the closest AA installation is kilometers away."

"Portable AA," Kallux suggested as he stepped up behind Will. "There are plenty of shoulder-fired pieces that can take down a Kodiak."

"That's a possibility," Will answered with a sigh. He turned and drew his rifle as he crossed the cabin to the side hatch. "Let's check and clear the LZ so Eleena and Shansa can take a look at the thrusters. Everyone: weapons ready."

He glanced over his shoulder to see the squad had already drawn and prepped their firearms. Tul'Sorrin drew his pistol as he exited from the cockpit and nodded affirmatively. Will reached for the hatch controls and with a few taps, unlocked and opened the door. He raised his rifle and held his sights on the hatch as it hissed and raised to open the cabin to the outside. As the door parted the squad was met with the wall of a building three or four stories in height. Will stepped forward and glanced toward the front and back of the shuttle to see that they had crashed in the courtyard of a U-shaped building which, much to his satisfaction, gave only one entrance and exit to their position. Will looked aft where the opening of the building lined perpendicular with a roadway. Across the street was another building at least five stories tall, but worn with scorch marks, bullet holes, and missing chunks of construction. All around them heavy clattering of distant gunfire and thumps of artillery echoed down the streets and over the rooftops.

"Atmosphere compromised," Shansa noted from the cockpit. "I'll cycle the canned air back once we've lifted off."

"Understood," Will answered. "No one take off your helmet... no matter how bad that itch gets."

Vayren carefully stepped out of the Kodiak and scurried to the end of the shuttle. "We're alone," he announced as he surveyed their surroundings.

Will stepped out after him to look around the courtyard for himself. It was about thirty feet wide and fifty long, scattered with crates and debris that would make decent cover if company were to arrive. The sky above them was a dull, dreary gray, made up of cloud coverage and smoke. Will motioned for the rest of the squad to follow as they stepped out of the Kodiak and moved past the aft end of the shuttle and toward the street. He glanced to the rear of the Kodiak to see the thruster in better shape than he had anticipated, indicating that the damage may have been limited to a few nuts and bolts coming loose. Or so he hoped. Will stopped after a few meters and nodded to a thick piece of concrete that jutted out of the ground to his side.

"Kallux, Vayren, setup behind cover and watch our backs while we figure out where we are," Will ordered.

The krogan and salarian nodded and took up position to watch the roadway as Will turned back to the others. Corsin, Tul'Sorrin and Eleena stood behind him while Shansa waited in the shuttle.

"Shansa, you're clear to come out," he mentioned over the comm.

The pilot peered out for a moment before jumping to the ground and stepping up with the others. She reached down and activated the shield generator on her utility armor, just to be safe.

Will nodded to Shansa and Eleena and before he could give the order they were already turning to get a look at the thrusters. He smirked lightly and looked to Tul and Corsin.

"Tul, do you have our location?"

The quarian pulled up his omnitool and nodded almost instantly. "Yes. Just give me one second to overlay it onto the map we have... and... there."

Will and Corsin stepped up to Tul's side as he held out his wrist and displayed the area map. According to their previous plan they had gone down roughly five hundred meters from their intended landing zone, putting them over a kilometer from their target.

"Damn," Corsin muttered.

"Agreed," Tul added as he let out a sigh.

"Tul, see if you can map a decent route from here." Will gripped his rifle as he looked over the map for a long moment before looking up to the rear of the Kodiak. "Eleena, Shansa, what's the situation?"

Shansa was scanning the starboard thruster carefully with her omnitool as Eleena knelt on the roof of the shuttle and inspected the thrusters from there.

The asari let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "The shockwave from the explosion blew some hoses and ruptured a few nozzles on the starboard side. Nothing I can't take care of in half an hour. But the port side..."

Will realized he had not seen the port side of the Kodiak and walked over to get a better look. As he rounded the back of the shuttle he saw the problem: an enormous gash had ripped into the thruster housing and taken a good chunk of the engine with it.

"I think we can safely say the port engine is fucked," Eleena noted as she looked down at the damage from the roof of the shuttle. "We should have the parts and equipment to repair it... but they're on the ship."

Shansa deactivated her omnitool. "But you can fix the starboard side, right?"

Eleena glanced to the human. "Yeah, it's just _lots_ of simple fixes."

"If that's true... I can fly us out," Shansa declared confidently. "The stabilizing thrusters on the belly look fine, I'll just burn them to capacity to keep us in the the air until we break from the surface."

Will raised a brow. "Is that gonna work?"

Eleena and Shansa shared a quick glance and shrugged nearly in unison.

"I don't see why not," Shansa answered as she looked back to Will.

He smirked lightly and nodded. "Alright, get it done. We'll get the repairs in order then move out."

"Hume! I've got Tyrixis on comm," Corsin called. "I'll patch you in."

Will turned on a dime and hurried to the turian and quarian. Corsin pulled up his omnitool and made a few adjustments to feed the audio from Tyrixis's call to Will's comm channel. He winced as a hiss of static broke into his helmet along with the crackle and pop of gunfire.

"Tyrixis, you there?" Corsin called, his voice louder than normal.

A few seconds later a response came in that flickered in and out of comprehension._"-irmative... lots of …-fire. Rebels are... -a push nearby. -ery hot, I... -peat, the area is taking.. -eavy fire. I need extraction!"_

The channel cut silent a moment later and Corsin shook his head. "It's dead. We need to get over there, fast."

Will could tell Tyrixis was in danger, but shook his head reluctantly. "It'll take time before the Kodiak's ready."

"Forget the shuttle," the turian argued. "We can find her while they make the repairs."

"We can't just leave them here alone."

"We don't have to," Tul suggested. "I've laid out a path that should keep us relatively hidden by sticking to alleyways and moving through buildings. If we split up, a small group can make it there quickly and undetected."

Will considered the option carefully. "A small group? How small?"

"Two people... three maybe?" Tul shrugged. "The fewer the better, really. You'd create less noise and could stay out of sight easier."

"I don't know," Will shook his head lightly. "What if we run into trouble?"

"The way I see it we have two options," Corsin began as he slowly paced to the left and right. "Move to Ty's location with the majority of our firepower, or leave it here. I'm willing to bet that someone saw our shuttle go down and they're going to be here to investigate any minute now. There's a chance they could be friendly, but there's also a chance they won't be. On the other hand, this path Tul'Sorrin has set for us _could _keep us concealed and allow us to avoid most of the action." He shook his head. "Or it might not. So the question is... where do we bet on needing our guns?"

Will looked to the side and thought in silence. Corsin was spot on with his analysis, and they were wasting precious time debating on a plan.

"Okay," Will finally answered. "A small group will head to Tyrixis, the rest will stay here. I'd rather bet on keeping the shuttle safe. As far as I'm concerned, if the extraction team gets into trouble they can always just fall back to this position. The other way around? Not so easy."

Corsin nodded in agreement. "Good. So who is doing what?"

"I spent a good four hours studying the maps of the area. I'll probably know it better than anyone." Will glanced to Tul. "Send me the route, I'm going."

Tul'Sorrin nodded and sent the map from his omnitool to Will's. "And who will accompany you?"

"I should go," Corsin interrupted. "She won't recognize anyone else. If she's in the middle of a war-zone then there's a good chance she won't hold off on the trigger if she's never seen you before."

Will nodded in agreement and glanced around the courtyard. Kallux had found a chunk of debris the perfect height to rest his cannon on and was carefully watching the street that their "U" opened at. He was far too much of their firepower to take away from their defensive position and, of course, the largest and most obvious target. He would have to stay. Vayren, on the other hand, was relatively small and even used a stealth generator. Couldn't get more discrete than that. But he could also pack a serious punch with his sniper rifle. As it was now, the salarian had climbed up into a perch a few meters above the ground and wedged himself into a corner that made him virtually invisible to a passing glance. On top of that, it would be useful to have someone who could make calls and act as the squad leader for the time being. He would have to stay as well. Will looked back to the turian and quarian.

"Corsin and I will go. Everyone else will stay here."

"Are you sure?" Tul'Sorrin drew his pistol. "If you need subterfuge, I can certainly work that angle."

Will smirked. "It's appreciated, Tul, but I need you here in case Eleena and Shansa need technical assistance with the shuttle."

The quarian nodded. "Yes... you're probably right."

Corsin cleared his throat. "We should move."

Will nodded in acknowledgment and opened his comm channel to the entire squad. "Alright, everyone. Corsin and I are going move out and extract Tyrixis. Everyone else is going to stay here and cover Eleena and Shansa while they get the Kodiak back in working order." Will readied his rifle and stepped into the middle of the courtyard so he could see everyone by turning in place. "Vayren is calling the shots, understood?"

The response was reluctant, but in agreement.

"Good luck," Kallux stated. "Stay low."

"And watch your backs," Eleena shouted from the roof of the Kodiak.

Will looked back to Corsin and motioned him along as they trotted toward the street. The turian hurried up ahead of Will and raised his rifle as they neared the corner of the building. Will glanced back to the others one last time.

"Last chance to let me know if anyone needs something from the store." Will grinned lightly as he waved to them.

Shansa looked up from the exposed thruster housing and made a shooing motion. "Just go!"

Will chuckled lightly and turned his attention back to Corsin. The turian had made a quick sweep of the street and was pressed with his back against the wall, ready to move.

"Looks clear," he informed Will. "I've got Tul'Sorrin's path on my HUD. Looks like we're moving to the end of this block, then across the street and into the alley."

Will brought up his omnitool and overlaid the directions on his own HUD. "I see it."

"I'll take point." Corsin raised his rifle.

Before Will could object, Corsin had rounded the corner and was moving down the street, hugging the wall. Will readied his own weapon and hurried to catch up with the turian, his eyes watching the windows of the surrounding structures as they moved. The cracks and thumps from hundreds of guns of dozens of calibers continued to rattle on in the ambiance around them, though it was clear that they were headed towards the loudest of it. Corsin slowed as they reached the next intersection and peered around the corner cautiously.

"Looks like a dug-in firing position about thirty meters down." The turian leaned back into cover and looked to Will. "Looks unoccupied."

"It _looks _that way?" Will raised a brow. "Does that mean it _is?_"

Corsin chuckled. "Let's find out."

Will's eyes widened as the turian gripped his rifle and sprinted out into the street without warning. Somehow, Corsin's bandaged leg gave him only the slightest limp.

Corsin slid into cover as he reached the opposite sidewalk and grunted over the comm. "It's clear, Hume. Come on."

Will shook his head and stepped out to the cross the street. "Are all Spectres insane?"

The turian pulled himself to his feet as Will approached and began walking toward the alleyway. "Relax, my HUD didn't pick up any heat signatures or movement."

"I didn't realize you had that kind of equipment."

Corsin paused briefly as they reached the entrance to the alleyway and quickly scanned for targets. Seeing it clear, he led Will into the narrow hall and toward the exit at the opposite end of the block.

"It's pretty standard for a Spectre's loadout." Corsin's rifle remained up and ready as they moved hurriedly down the alley. "But, I have a few non-standard upgrades as well. I'm trained in combat engineering as well as biotics."

Will raised a brow. "Like Tul?"

Corsin chuckled lightly. "I'm nowhere near his expertise in the same way my biotics would never hold up against Eleena's, but I can hack my way through basic security in a snap."

The pair came to a stop as the alley ended at another debris ridden street. The sound of gunfire had grown louder as they approached the hotspot that Tyrixis had found herself in. Will and Corsin took up positions at each wall and glanced in opposite directions to look for targets.

"Looks clear," Will reported.

"Not this way," Corsin muttered.

Will turned quickly to get a look at the other end of the street. "Shit.."

There was movement at an intersection about fifty meters down street. Will raised his rifle and used the zoom optics to see that there was a group of at least twenty soldiers running in the same direction that he and Corsin were heading. The group looked as rag-tag as they come, but were surprisingly well armed.

"Looks like reinforcements for whatever is happening near Ty," the Spectre reasoned.

Will lowered his rifle and nodded. "Probably."

After a few moments of waiting the last of the troopers disappeared around a crumbling structure and out of sight.

Corsin readied his weapon. "Let's move."

The human and turian sprinted for the opposite side of the street and to a half blown apart doorway. Tul's path directed them into the structure that took up the entirety of the next block, and Corsin quickly began working on prying the two halves of the door apart. Will stowed his rifle and gripped the lip of one half firmly to give Corsin a hand. He grunted and gave a hard tug, causing the door to screech lightly but part far enough to allow them passage into a dark hallway. Will retrieved his rifle and activated his flashlight.

"_Captain Hume, do you read, over?"_

Will stopped and opened his comm. "I hear you, Vayren."

"_We've made contact. Group of scouts belonging to the local regime thought we were rebels and attempted to move into the crash-site by force."_ The salarian paused. _"We scared them off, but I image they will be back soon."_

"Then I'm glad we left you all there to watch over things." Will looked back as Corsin stepped through the door and into the hall. "Let me know if things start getting hairy."

"_Affirmative. Vayren, out."_

"I'll lead for a bit," Will stated as he closed the comm channel.

Corsin nodded as he activated his own light. "Sounds good."

It was hard to tell, but Will guessed that whatever structure they had entered was once a shopping center. The walls were lined with abandoned stalls, some open and scattered with boxes of long-looted products while others were blocked off by large security walls. Will took a quick glance at his constantly updating path information that Tul had integrated to his helmet's HUD. If the quarian's directions were correct, the long hall that Will and Corsin were moving through should exit at the street just a single block away from Tyrixis's location.

"So, you served with your sister?" Will glanced to Corsin.

The turian nodded. "For a few years. I wasn't in the turian military for long." He laughed and shook his head. "Well, not as long as her."

Will smirked lightly. "Why'd you leave?"

"I had some, uh... disagreements with the command structure." Corsin shook his head. "Plus, I got offered this job and, quite frankly, I think I've done a lot more good than I could have on Palaven waiting for another krogan rebellion."

Will eyed an overturned table as they passed it and noticed dozens of scattered bullet holes. Apparently things had fallen out of control quickly here.

"Did you serve in the First Contact War?"

The turian clicked his mandibles for a moment. "Ah, you mean the Relay 314 Incident." Corsin shook his head. "No, I started Spectre training about two years before. Tyrixis, on the other hand... she was on Shanxi."

Will raised a brow. "Do you think she'll be okay working with me? I've heard a lot of turians mistrust humans... especially those who fought against us."

Corsin paused briefly. "She's a little old fashioned at times, but she's not ignorant."

The pair came to a stop as they reached a closed door. Corsin stepped to the middle and raised his omnitool.

"I should be able to feed some power into this thing and force it open," he muttered as he worked.

A few seconds later the security panel on the door flickered to life and pinged. The door slid apart to reveal another dark stretch of hallway nearly identical to the one they had just finished traversing through. Corsin grabbed his rifle and nodded.

"Let's go."

Will moved onward and looked over the turian. "You started Spectre training before our first contact?"

Corsin nodded. "That's right. I've been an active operative for twenty-one years."

"Wow." Will shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't realize Spectres served for that long."

"Well your length of service depends on a lot of factors. Your species, the kind of missions you conduct, injuries..." He gave a small shrug. "I don't think about it much."

"How many turian Spectres of your age are there?" Will looked back ahead as they neared another door.

"Not many," the turian admitted.

Will halted at the door. "This is the end of Tul's path... she could be anywhere around here."

"Sounds like gunfire," Corsin noted as he raised his omnitool and prepared to hack the door. "Let's see what's going on."

"I'm ready." Will held up his rifle.

The security panel blinked and parted, allowing light that shone from the gloomy sky to pour past them. The sounds of gunfire both close and far exploded around them from the street. Will narrowed his eyes as they adjusted to the light.

"Hey!" I voice called from in front of them.

As Will looked down into the street he could see a group of five soldiers behind a bunch of debris that had been set up as a barricade. The group was diverse in almost every possible way: from their body shapes it appeared as though the group consisted of three batarians, a human and a turian. Their armor and weapons were a wide variety of old and new as well. Will figured they had to be rebels, given their inconsistent gear. Bullets impacted everywhere around the soldiers as they attempted to return fire on an unseen enemy. The trooper that had seen them, a batarian, raised his rifle and took aim on Will and Corsin.

"Who the hell are you?!"

His voice was hard to make out over the sound of firing rifles and impacting bullets. A second soldier, a female human, caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye and turned her weapon on the newcomers as well while their comrades continued to fire downrange. Will quickly pointed his weapon to the ground and raised a hand in an attempt to diffuse the situation. He ducked to the side slightly to hide part of his body behind the door, just in case.

"We're looking for someone!" Will shouted in return.

He glanced over to see Corsin had mimicked his action and had pressed himself into cover.

The woman ducked as bullet impacted near her head, but kept her weapon trained on them. "Who you fightin' for?"

Will and Corsin locked eyes for a moment before the turian looked back to the rebels. "We're from off-world. We're trying to find someone and get them out of this mess."

The other soldiers had noticed them by now, but continued on their duties in hopes that their batarian and human comrades would deal with the situation.

"So if you're not here to help, why should we let you come through?" The batarian yelled.

"Do you really want to pick a fight with a Spectre?" Corsin replied almost tauntingly.

The human stared up in shock. "You're... Spectres?"

Corsin gave Will a sideways glance. "I'm a Spectre. This is my partner."

The batarian shook his head and waved them down. Will and Corsin gave each other a nod and darted through the doorway and down into the street. They slid down behind a burned out skycar where the human was crouched. She looked Corsin and Will up and down with wide eyes. Will glanced up over cover to see at least a dozen enemy soldiers at various positions down the street laying fire down toward them. As he stared, a bullet impacted near Will's shoulder and caused his shields to flare up. The batarian that had first spotted them looked over from behind his nearby cover.

"What the hell are Spectres doing here? What do you want?"

"As we said already, we're looking for someone," Will answered truthfully. "A doctor."

The human tilted her head to the side. "A doctor?"

Corsin nodded. "A turian. Tyrixis Rentarius."

The batarian perked up. "She's still here? I thought she'd have gotten the hell out of here by now."

Will furrowed his brow concernedly. "She's nearby, right?"

"Her triage center is nearby." The batarian held up his rifle and fired off a burst. "But our front has been pushing this way for weeks. She must have known the lines were closing in on her."

"Sounds like her." Corsin let out a sigh. "Can you tell us where her clinic is, exactly?"

The batarian motioned behind them. "Back down this street and to the right one block. She was set up in an old motor pool."

Will looked to Corsin and nodded. "Alright, let's go."

"What? You can't leave!" The woman behind cover with them shook her head. "You've gotta help us fight!"

Corsin looked around the group of rebels. "Sorry, we've got a mission."

The batarian lined up another few shots. "We're gonna get overrun! You can't just leave us to die!"

"Look, I'm sorry... we've got no stake in this war." Will reluctantly pulled himself to his feet and rolled into cover at the far side of the street. "Don't worry, you've got reinforcements moving in on that enemy squad's flank. Just... hold your line!"

The woman gritted her teeth angrily and rose up to unload a series of shots. Corsin waved for Will to follow him as he jumped to his feet and stepped around the debris that made up the rebels' position. Will fell in behind Corsin as he sprinted away from the firefight and down the street in the direction that the batarian rebel had told them to go. A few stray bullets impacted around them and occasionally on their shields as they made their way to the next intersection until they were all but clear of combat. Corsin stumbled slightly on his wounded leg and pressed himself against the wall as they came to a stop. The turian looked around the corner as he caught his breath.

"I think I see it," Corsin stated.

Before Will could get a look for himself an ear-shattering crash rang out and shook everything around them. He shook his head and placed his hand on the wall as his balanced returned while dust billowed through the air. Will looked back down the street toward the rebels' position to see nothing but fire and rising smoke.

Corsin grabbed Will by the shoulder. "It's artillery, we've gotta move!"

Will nodded and followed Corsin as he turned and ran out into what would hopefully be the final street they would have to cross. Will glanced to his side as they ran at full speed to see that the block ended at what had once been a massive park. He stared in a mix of amazement and terror at the utter destruction that had befallen the area as hundreds of tiny figures and dozens of vehicles exchanged fire. He and Corsin slammed themselves into the wall as they looked out into the battle. They only watched for a moment before Corsin set off once again, running down the side of the street toward the park. A few dozen meters from where the road ended he turned and darted into a large opening on the wall that Will quickly realized was a set of bay doors. Corsin paused a few feet into the room and doubled over as he caught his breath with Will doing the same beside him. Will glanced up around looked around the warehouse-size room they had taken refuge in.

"It... it looks like a garage," Will panted.

"A motor pool," Corsin corrected him.

A door on the wall to their left pinged softly and parted. Before Will and Corsin could raise their weapons they were met by the barrel of a rifle and the armored figure holding it. The newcomer spoke with a voice that was noticeably strong, and clearly turian, but also feminine.

"Well, it's about time, Corsin. I thought you'd never show up."


	10. Chapter 10

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 10**

_**City of Q'oorin, Sharkeer**_

The turian female stood in the shadows for a long moment with the sights of her rifle locked on her newly arrived guests.

After waiting just long enough to make Will nervous, Tyrixis slowly lowered her rifle. "Where's the extraction squad?"

Corsin let out a sigh and slung his rifle onto his back. "This is it."

The female turian stepped out of the shadows and raised her chin as she eyed Will and Corsin closely. Will could tell they were siblings just by looking through the visor of her helmet. They shared the same gray skin tone with matching markings running across their faces: two parallel, maroon lines that ran from the center of their brows up to the top of the crests that adorned their heads. He looked her up and down quickly and immediately noted her intimidating size and stance. She was almost the exact same height as her brother and stood with the stern, militaristic stature that nearly every turian assumed. In her hands she held a rifle very similar to the one Corsin carried, though it appeared to have a few modifications. The sound of the nearby battle echoed through the large, empty room in which they stood.

"One human?" Tyrixis shook her head. Will couldn't tell if she was amused or irritated. "Are all Spectres crazy, or just you?"

"I'm glad I'm not the only one to ask that question," Will commented with a small grin.

Corsin stepped forward and motioned between Will and his sister. "Tyrixis, this is Captain William Hume. He and his crew are helping me with the mission I outlined for you in my initial message." The turian looked to Will. "Hume, this is Tyrixis."

"Doctor Tyrixis Rentarius," the female restated as she turned her attention to the human.

Will shifted his rifle to his offhand and stepped toward Tyrixis. "Nice to meet you, doctor." He extended a hand and looked to her eyes as she examined him cautiously.

After a moment of hesitation she accepted the hand and gave a formal shake. "Mercenary?"

"Almost," Will answered with a smirk. "But if you have to put a name on it..."

"He's been trustworthy so far," Corsin stated. "And you can get acquainted later. Right now, we need to move."

Tyrixis pulled her hand back to her side. "Move where? Didn't you bring a shuttle?"

"We had to land about a kilometer away and move in on foot." Corsin retrieved his rifle. "Hence our two-man extraction team. The rest of our people are guarding the shuttle while our engineer makes repairs."

The doctor shook her head. "Repairs?"

Will averted his eyes. "Yeah... we didn't entirely _land._ There was a bit of a _crash_ involved as well."

Tyrixis let out an exasperated sigh. "Excellent mission planning as always, Corsin."

"Unforeseen complications can arise, Ty, you of all people should know that. You're the one who established a triage center in the middle of a battlefield." Corsin looked around the empty, cavernous room. "Speaking of which, where _is_ the triage center?"

"Evacuated," she answered straightly. "A few hours ago when things started heating up in the park. I stayed behind to pack up as much vital equipment as I could."

Will raised a brow apprehensively. "How much equipment?"

Tyrixis motioned over her shoulder to the doorway she had entered through. She turned and walked back through the door as Corsin and Will fell in behind her. The door led them into a dim hallway with a few open doors on either side that had once housed offices and storage. At the end of the short hall lay five military backpacks propped up against the wall.

"These are all my essentials." She knelt down beside the bags and looked to each one.

"We're not going to be able to bring all of them with us," Corsin informed her. "Even if we could carry them all, we need to be able to move quickly."

Tyrixis nodded without argument. She was definitely military. "Understood." Her eyes shifted to each satchel once more before nodding decidedly and pointing to two of the bags. "These two will stay."

She grabbed the closest pack and slung it over her shoulders. Will and Corsin grabbed bags of their own and made adjustments to the fit to keep them tight against their backs. Will was far from comfortable and was sure that they pack would hinder his movement in combat.

"Here's hoping we don't attract hostile attention," Will muttered as he shifted his weight in search of balance.

Tyrixis gave him a sideways glance before looking to Corsin. "Let's go. I've been watching the situation outside and it's deteriorating quickly. I'd rather not find out what kind of weapons Narenthus Antarian is selling by being down the barrel of one."

Corsin nodded and turned to lead them back out of the doorway and into the motor pool. His limp was far more apparent with the additional weight that now hung on his shoulder. Will could see Tyrixis look down the bandage on his leg briefly before looking up and raising her rifle. Corsin and Will did the same, readying their weapons as they exited the hallway and turned to the open bay doors. The group came to a stop before stepping out into the street as Will opened his comm channel.

"Vayren, you there?"

"_Affirmative."_

Will glanced to Tyrixis. "We're on our way back. How are the repairs looking?"

"_Eleena's language has become much less colorful. So I imagine it is coming along rather well."_

Will grinned to himself. "Good. Has anyone else stopped by?"

"_A small squad appeared a few minutes ago. They looked organized, probably loyalists. There was a small firefight, but they retreated."_

"Stay safe. We'll be there in about ten minutes. Fifteen, tops."

"_Understood. Vayren, out."_

"We ready to move?" Corsin looked over his shoulder to the others.

"Lead the way," his sister replied.

The Spectre stepped out into the street and made a sharp turn back in the direction he and Will had come from. Tyrixis followed behind him with Will taking up the rear. He took one last glance over his shoulder to the battle roaring behind them, then pushed the image from his mind and turned his attention back to their objective: get the hell out. Corsin swiftly led the group to the closest intersection and crossed over toward the block where they had met the group of rebel soldiers. Will's heart sank as they rounded the corner. The dust and smoke from the artillery strike had settled, leaving the street barren save for scattered debris. The squad of hostiles at the end of the block were nowhere to be seen, possibly having been pushed back by the group of rebels they had seen advancing on them from their flank. Halfway down the block, where the door opened into the retail center that they would pass through on their way out, Will could see the obliterated barricade where the rebels had been holding up.

"Damn," Corsin muttered. "I was hoping that shell had fallen short."

As they approached, it became apparent that some of the debris that littered the destroyed barricade was that of the mismatched armor the rebels had worn. Will, Corsin and Tyrixis slowed as they neared the small crater at the center of the street. Will was about to turn away when he caught sight of a pair of boots protruding from behind the wreckage of the skycar that he and Corsin had taken cover behind. He deviated from their path and made his way to the set of boots to see that they belonged to the batarian that had directed them toward Tyrixis. The rebel's armor was relatively intact, but he lay limp and motionless.

"Tyrixis, is he alive?" Will called as he looked over his shoulder.

The two turians had continued onward to the doorway, but stopped as Will changed course. Tyrixis lowered her rifle slightly and stepped down from the door and over to where Will stood, staring at the batarian. She gave the body a quick look and shook her head.

"The shockwave from the explosive alone would have killed him." Tyrixis motioned toward the batarian's helmet and its shattered visor. "And if it didn't... he suffocated. The oxygen on Sharkeer is too thin to survive more than five minutes without a supplemental source."

Will stared silently for a few seconds. "Alright. Let's go."

He and Tyrixis turned from the body and climbed up the couple of steps to the doorway where Corsin stood waiting. Will glanced back at the crater briefly before raising his rifle and looking ahead to the objective at hand.

* * *

Most of the journey back to the crash site was made in silence as Will, Corsin and Tyrixis did their best to avoid being detected by scouts. They spotted four over the course of their journey, two that resembled rebels, as well as a pair of uniformed soldiers that wore matching, black armor with a red emblem emblazoned on the shoulder. Luckily, all three parties seemed to be oblivious to the squad's movements. As they exited the alleyway near the Kodiak's location the ever-present sound of gunfire grew noticeably louder. Corsin and Will shared a quick glance and nodded knowingly.

"The crash site is nearby," Tyrixis deduced as she looked to either of them.

Will raised his rifle as they pressed themselves to the wall of the U-shaped building. "That's right. And it sounds like that scouting party returned with some friends."

"The squad was under orders not to fire unless fired upon," Corsin added. "It sounds like our guests didn't believe that we aren't rebels."

Will stepped around Corsin to take point as they moved toward the corner of the building. To the left would be the street where "U" opened to and, by the sound of it, a less-than-friendly welcome. Will's finger lined up with his trigger as they neared the edge and the sound of an unfamiliar voice rang out through the gunfire.

"The krogan! _Kill the kroga-"_

The voice was cut silent as the sound of Vayren's rifle cut through the air. Will quickened his pace and came to a stop at corner of the building before peering around to assess the ongoing battle. A squad of eight soldiers was firing into the enclave where the Kodiak and the rest of the _Hyperion_ crew was hiding and returning fire. Three of the soldiers were already on the ground, wounded or dead, while the other five shot from behind fallen concrete debris and the skycar they had arrived in. The entirety of the enemy squad wore the same black armor that Will, Corsin and Tyrixis had seen on the scouts they had evaded earlier. Will leaned back out of sight and looked to the turians.

"Eight targets, three down already. All exposed from our position," he reported.

Corsin nodded. "Good. I'm going for the other corner." He motioned toward the parallel street corner and a pile of rubble that covered it. "I'll try to move fast, but if they spot me just shoot."

Will and Tyrixis nodded as Corsin hugged his rifle to his chest and ran with his small limp for the other side of the street. As soon as the turian left cover, Will stepped out and took aim on the enemy squad. In the corner of his eye he could see that Tyrixis had dropped to one knee at his side and lined up a shot as well. They held their fire as Corsin reached the halfway point. Will's breathing slowed as he concentrated on keeping his aim steady and sure. Then, a fraction of a second before Corsin could reach his destination undetected, one of the soldiers looked to the side and made a quick double-take.

"Left flank!" The loyalist soldier shouted as he turned his rifle on Will and Tyrixis.

Before he could even take aim, Will and Tyrixis had shifted targets to their observant foe and unleashed a heavy burst. The turian rifle Tyrixis wielded roared deeply, like Corsin's, and with a slightly electrical tinge. Will would have loved to take quick glance at the weapon as it fired, but refused to take his eyes off the targets before him. Across the street, Corsin had rolled into cover and popped up into a firing position with the deft speed that could only come from performing the action thousands of times. His rifle exploded into gunfire a mere second after Will and Ty's, hosing the enemy squad with bullets. Their first target, the batarian who had spotted them, fell almost instantly to their combined fire. A second was killed shortly after as he looked to the side, startled, and was struck in the head by one of Vayren's shots. The others panicked. Two of the remaining three turned to run as soon as they heard the sound of enemies at their flank, while the third looked to the overwhelming enemies around him and dropped to the ground where he curled into the fetal position.

"Hold your fire," Will called into the comm as the soldiers broke from their position.

"_Well it's about time,"_ a familiar asari answered.

Will lowered his rifle to his hip and slowly stepped further into the street. The human in black armor continued to cower behind the shot-up skycar that sat idling a few dozen feet ahead. Corsin and Tyrixis pulled themselves to their feet and fell into position on his flanks as they approached the man.

"Why were you shooting at my squad?" Will asked as he came to a stop a few meters away. "You should know better than to pick a fight without knowing who it is you're aiming at."

The soldier jumped in shock and looked up to Will and the two turians. He fell onto his back and tried to scurry away while panting and mumbling incomprehensibly.

"The... the scouts said you were rebs," he explained frantically.

"We're not." Corsin answered flatly.

"I- I didn't know!" The man was clearly ready to beg for his life.

Will stared for a moment before nodding to the end of the street. "You gonna leave, or what?"

The soldier froze in surprise. After a few seconds he nodded and rolled over to push himself to his feet and scramble away. Will, Corsin and Tyrixis watched as he stumbled over himself while sprinting to the closest corner he could find and disappearing out of sight. Will loosened his grip on his M-15 and turned to his left to see the rear of the Kodiak and the rest of the squad standing and watching in amusement. Vayren had already collapsed and stowed his sniper rifle and was climbing to the ground from his perch as Will led Corsin and Tyrixis into the courtyard.

"No call to tell us about your little engagement?" Will smirked as the salarian approached the group.

"We were handling ourselves," Vayren answered as all four came to a stop. The salarian looked to the unfamiliar turian and nodded. "You must be Doctor Rentarius."

Tyrixis reached to her back and secured her rifle. "That's correct. And you are?"

Vayren must have noticed her militaristic mannerisms and stature as he straightened himself up appropriately. "Agent Vayren, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance." He extended a hand.

Tyrixis gladly accepted the hand and gave a formal shake. "Well met, Agent." She gave a sideways glance to Corsin as she retracted her hand. "Two Spectres? I hadn't realized the severity of this manhunt."

Will cleared his throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we should probably save the majority of the introductions for _after_ we're out of the war-zone."

The others nodded in agreement as Will stepped past them and hurried toward the Kodiak. He looked to his side where Kallux still leaned against the wall with his cannon positioned to cover the entrance to the courtyard. Eleena was standing beside a piece of debris she had used as cover in the firefight with her arms crossed and hips cocked slightly as she eyed the newcomer cautiously. Will stopped in front of the asari and motioned to the shuttle.

"Are we ready to fly?"

"Starboard engine should be operating around ninety percent capacity." Eleena gave him a cocky grin. "And I managed to isolate the damaged systems in the port thruster. Should be able to squeeze out around twenty five percent."

Will blinked. "The port thruster is operational?"

"You didn't hire me just for my gorgeous, purple fringe," Eleena shot back with a wicked grin.

Will laughed lightly. "No, but it sure doesn't hurt. Where are Tul and Shansa?"

"Inside," Kallux replied from his firing position a few feet away. "Prepping the systems."

"Good." Will turned to where Corsin, Vayren and Tyrixis were talking quietly among one another. "Everyone load into the Kodiak. We're getting outta this place."

Corsin and Vayren nodded to one another before making their way over to Will with Tyrixis close behind. Kallux hauled his cannon from its firing position and secured it on his back as he walked to the open hatch of the Kodiak and jumped in. Eleena slid her SMG into its holster and followed the krogan as the doctor and Spectres reached Will. Tyrixis watched as the asari and krogan jumped into the shuttle without acknowledging her presence. With a small step to the side, Will motioned for the others to board before him. He looked up to the gray, bleak sky for a moment before reaching up to the bulkhead of the door and jumping in. Kallux hit the hatch control console as soon as Will had entered and leaned into the cockpit.

"We're aboard," the krogan stated.

Will moved up to the entrance of the cockpit as Kallux stepped aside and assumed his position on the troop bench.

"So, are we gonna get shot down again?" Will asked half-sarcastically as he leaned into the cockpit from the cabin.

Tul looked over his shoulder from the copilot's seat. "No. While you were gone I was bolstering the electronic countermeasure signals."

Shansa nodded. "And just in case that doesn't work, I'll be flying _very_ fast."

"You know how to put my worries at ease," Will remarked with a smirk.

He stepped back into the cabin and took his seat on the bench, shifting uncomfortably as he struggled to stay on the seat with the medical bag still strapped to his back. The shuttle began to hum and rumble as the power initiated and pushed the Kodiak a few feet from the ground. Will reached down to buckle his safety harness as he looked around the cabin to be sure that the rest of the squad had already done so.

"Venting in the _Hyperion_ atmosphere," Shansa reported.

The shuttle continued to shake unnervingly as Shansa checked over the active systems. After roughly fifteen seconds the belly thrusters exploded to full strength and sent the shuttle into a climb. Will gripped the harnesses that ran across his chest. Shansa looked back into the cabin briefly.

"Everyone hold on tight."

The shuttle's rear thrusters roared in defiance as Shansa pushed each engine to the maximum capacity that Eleena had locked them down to. The Kodiak jumped forward and into the sky with the nose rising upward to bring them away from the surface as quickly as possible. The same sound that had warned them of the incoming missile earlier began to sound, only to be silenced as Tul made a few quick adjustments on his electronic warfare panel. Will could feel the shuttle drifting to port as the much stronger starboard thruster ran at more than twice the capacity of its counterpart. Shansa ignited the small side thrusters on the port and forward corner to compensate.

"We're out of AA range," Tul reported happily.

"Good." Shansa had turned her attention to flying the crippled vessel.

The squad sat in patient silence as the Kodiak roared out of the atmosphere of Sharkeer and set course for the moon where they had safely hid the _Hyperion._ Will looked over to see Corsin and Tyrixis had chosen to sit next to one another. Through their visors he could see their mouths taking turns at moving, indicating they were talking over their private channels. Next to them, Vayren sat with his omnitool raised and concentrating on whatever data it displayed. At Will's side was Kallux and Eleena, both quiet and undoubtedly ready to be out of the cramped Kodiak that had crashed only an hour earlier. Will leaned his head back and shut his eyes as the shuttle made its way to the moon with surprising haste. He could feel the forward thrusters ignite as Shansa slowed their approach and lined up the Kodiak with the _Hyperion's _cargo bay door. The shuttle swayed gently as Shansa attempted to keep the cantankerous engines in line.

"Bringing us in," Shansa said calmly as the Kodiak slid into the airlock.

Tul tapped a few buttons on a smaller console to his right. "Reestablishing the airlock atmosphere." A hiss could be heard as air rushed into the chamber around them. "Activating decontamination sequence."

Will looked through the cockpit viewport to see the thick, white mist filling the airlock. Shansa locked the Kodiak's position momentarily and reached to her side to activate a few systems. They beeped for verification, which she very impatiently tapped to bypass. The series of vents on the ceiling of the Kodiak began spilling the decontaminating mist into the cabin. Will admired Shansa's clever solution for scrubbing the Kodiak after a mission. After a minute of allowing the mist to fill the cabin, Tul forced the inner airlock door to open and Shansa deftly guided the shuttle into the cargo bay. She settled the craft into position on its docking mechanism and shut down the thrusters with a satisfied sigh.

"Nicely done," Tul'Sorrin mentioned.

Will unbuckled himself from his seat and jumped to his feet. Kallux and Eleena stood with him and pulled off their helmets almost in unison.

"Can't wait to dig into that port thruster with some decent supplies." Eleena tilted her head to either side to stretch her neck.

"You can have at it in a few minutes," Will informed her as he crossed the cabin to open the side hatch. "First, I need everyone to group up."

He opened the door and dropped down to the cargo bay floor with a small grunt. He reached up and disengaged his helmet from the locking mechanisms on his neck, allowing him to pull the helmet from his head. He took a deep breath of the _Hyperion's_ air and smiled as he looked back to the others as they filed out of the Kodiak and did the same. Will stepped back to give them room and tucked his helmet under his arm as one-by-one the crew formed a circle beside the Kodiak. He looked to each of them as they stood ready and waiting until his eyes fell on Tyrixis.

"Well, as you all can see, our mission was successful." Will held up a hand toward the doctor to introduce her. "This is Doctor Tyrixis Rentarius." He looked to her with a smile. "Welcome aboard the _Hyperion_."

The group shifted their gaze to the turian expectantly. She returned the look to each of them before glancing around the cargo bay briefly.

"Thank you, Captain Hume."

"I should probably do some introductions." Will looked to his immediate right where Kallux stood. "This is Raik Kallux, he's our..." He looked to the krogan with a grin. "Well, in the field he's our muscle."

Kallux smirked. "And on the ship?"

"Our heart, clearly." Will looked down to the next in line. "That's Eleena, our engineer and biotics expert."

The asari crossed her arms in amusement. "Oh, I'm an expect, now?"

"Just take the compliment," Will answered with a grin as he shifted his attention to the salarian and turian next to Tyrixis. "You've met Vayren and Corsin, of course. On your right is Shansa, our pilot."

The turian and human glanced to one another. Shansa smiled warmly as Tyrixis simply nodded in professional acknowledgment.

"And finally, we have Tul'Sorrin, our tech expert and strategist." Will nodded to the quarian with a smile.

Tyrixis looked around the circle and bowed her head quickly. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. If Corsin finds you worthy comrades, then I look forward to serving with you."

"If you wanna walk around the ship and get to know the layout or crew, feel free," Will said as he stretched his back. "But we should probably get you caught up to speed on the situation." He looked to the others and nodded. "Good work, everyone."

Shansa, Tul'Sorrin, Kallux and Eleena broke away from the group and walked to the armory to unload their equipment. Will looked to the doctor and Spectres and motioned toward the forward hall.

"Shall we?"

Corsin nodded. "After you, Captain Hume."

* * *

It didn't take long to bring Tyrixis up to speed. Apparently, Corsin had informed her of most of the details on the shuttle ride from the surface. Much to Will's surprise, the doctor was not flustered in the least by the fact that their target was a rogue Spectre. He wasn't sure if that was due to her apparent disapproval of Spectres in general, or her unwavering military professionalism. Either way, he had to hope that neither of the attributes would cause problems during the mission. With Tyrixis on board, Vayren, Corsin and Will agreed that they would set an immediate course for the planet Neidus, the location of Corsin's last lead on Antarian's operations. After finishing up with the surprisingly short briefing and informing Shansa of their next destination, Vayren excused himself to remove his armor, leaving Will and the turians in the bunkroom.

"_Thrusters are live,"_ Shansa reported over the comms. _"Setting a course for the relay."_

Will shifted his eyes from the ceiling back down to Tyrixis. "You're probably going to need a place for all this," he mentioned as he looked over the three bags of medical equipment they had placed against the wall.

Tyrixis nodded in affirmation. "Yes. Where would you suggest I store my equipment?"

He turned to the wall of bunks. At the far end of the row of beds was a locker that had been vacant since the crew had moved their equipment to the new armory in the cargo bay.

"Here." He walked to the locker and swung the door open to reveal the ample space inside. "The bed right next to it is free as well, if you want it."

She stepped up beside him and took a quick look at the shelving inside the locker. "This will suffice."

As Will turned to reach for one of the packs he caught a glimpse of Corsin out of the corner of his eye. The turian was staring at his sister as she looked over the bed that Will had offered her. Will paused before reaching the bags and waited for Corsin to shift his gaze away from Tyrixis. As he caught the turian's attention he motioned toward the bags and Corsin quickly picked up on the suggestion. He hurried over to Will, retrieved one of the packs and carried it to the locker where Tyrixis stood.

"Here. First batch," Corsin mentioned.

Tyrixis glanced to her brother and down to the bag in his hand. "Thank you, Corsin."

The Spectre nodded and set the pack to the ground as Tyrixis knelt beside him and opened the top of the bag to retrieve the first piece of equipment. Will smiled and quietly stepped out of the bunkroom and into the hallway as the turians began exchanging small pleasantries. He turned toward the cargo bay and walked happily through the door to see Kallux and Vayren at their respective workbenches looking over their armor and weapons. After a brief internal debate he decided to leave his armor on for a few more minutes and head to Eleena as she stood behind the Kodiak, taking notes on her holopad. Her eyes lifted to watch him as he crossed the room. A small smile appeared on her lips.

"So, how long is it gonna take to get this thing back to a hundred percent?" Will eyed the ravaged port thruster up and down as he came to halt in front of Eleena.

She lowered the holopad and shook her head. "Few days at least. I wouldn't recommend we use it until I can get everything running smoothly."

"No objections here," Will muttered half to himself. "Nice work on those emergency repairs, by the way."

Eleena slowly stepped around to the side of the Kodiak, eying the thruster housing closely. "Didn't you already compliment my work?"

"Got a problem hearing it twice?" Will smirked lightly.

"Not at all," she answered. The asari let out a small, disappointed sigh.

"Everything alright?"

She shook her head. "Yeah, yeah... I'm just gonna have to bust my ass to get this thing working anytime soon." Eleena turned to Will with a bittersweet smile and reached into the satchel of supplies that hung around her neck. "Which means I'll have to put a hold on reading until then." Her hand lifted _The Martian Chronicles _out of the bag just far enough for Will to see.

He smiled softly. "You're liking it then?"

"Only a few chapters left," she answered with a nod. "It's... fascinating, to say the least."

Will raised a brow. "How so?"

Eleena gently set the book back into her bag. "Human writing is just so... diverse. Themes, subjects, settings..."

"Asari literature isn't?"

"Well, it's not completely devoid of diversity." She leaned her shoulder against the Kodiak. "But the most popular asari works end up being either genres about romance or adventure. And it's not just the asari. Turians _love_ their war stories. Salarians are all about intrigue and mystery." She shook her head. "But humans? You said that all these books you've lent me were 'classics,' right?"

Will nodded. "Most of them."

Eleena's face brightened slightly in excitement as he validated her assertion. "And yet they're all _so_ different. You can tell a lot about a species by what they write about and how, and from what I've gathered, humans are very unpredictable." She grinned. "I like that."

"Well, as member and representative of the human race, I appreciate the compliment." Will grinned playfully in return.

The asari laughed lightly and stepped past him. "Well, 'unpredictable' is definitely a word I could use to describe you." She let out a regretful sigh and activated her holopad once again. "I should probably get back to work. This poor Kodiak is just begging for my attention."

"And I need to get out of this armor." Will gave Eleena a small smile. "Don't kill yourself trying to get the shuttle ready before we reach Neidus. It's just an abandoned factory... Shansa can always drop us off with the ship."

"Not listening!" Eleena answered as she turned to her workbench and reached for the closest blowtorch. "Now get outta here or I'll never get anything done." She glanced over her shoulder slyly with one eye.

Will chuckled lightly. "Well, when you put it that way."

Eleena gave him a quick wave as her attention focused on the data on her holopad. He stayed for a short moment and watched her with a small smile before turning to head for his locker.


	11. Chapter 11

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 11**

_**MSV Hyperion, en route to Neidus, Pylos Nebula**_

It was rare for Will to occupy to cockpit without Shansa. In this case, however, with the _Hyperion _still hours away from Neidus, Will had managed to convince her to rest up as much as possible before their arrival. He loved to sit and relax in the cockpit during FTL jumps as it boasted the only viewports on the ship. It was so easy to get lost in the menagerie of countless stars and nebulae that spanned infinity in every direction. Combined with the painterly swaths of light cast by the mass effect fields during their FTL jump, the sight was truly breathtaking. Will had been in the pilot's seat for well over an hour now simply staring, his mind slowly drifting from one subject to another. Unfortunately, no matter what subject he attempted to steer his wanderings toward, they always ended up returning to one person. There we so many things about her that he had come to appreciate over the past six months... Eleena's laugh, her independence and strength, her playful grin, the way she looked up from her reading with those gorgeous, light purple eyes when he passed by. But he wanted more. He wanted to _know_ more.

"How far out are we?"

Will jumped in his seat and twisted his head to see Vayren standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Goddamn, Vayren." Will let out a sigh. "Scared the hell out of me."

"Well, my apologies." The salarian stared down to the human with a remarkably unamused expression. "I didn't realize how intently you were focused on staring out the window."

Will narrowed his eyes slightly. "Did you just... make a joke..?"

Vayren continued to stare. Will could have sworn he saw the salarian's lips try to curl into a smile.

"My question still stands, Captain."

Will smirked lightly. "Three hours or so." He motioned to the copilot's seat. "Take a load off. You've been at that workbench for ages."

The Spectre hesitated a moment before nodding in agreement. He leaned forward slightly to duck through the doorway and sat himself comfortably in the chair beside Will. Vayren's eyes darted about the cockpit curiously, but casually.

"I'm guessing you haven't had much time up here." Will deduced as he shifted his weight to lean back in the chair.

"You are correct," Vayren affirmed as he looked back to Will. "It's a peculiar ship."

"Peculiar how?"

The salarian motioned to the ship around them. "This vessel is a human design, correct?"

Will nodded. "Yep. Guiana Class ships were some of the first civilian, inter-system capable models produced by humanity."

"Its hull is quite unique among those of the human ships I have observed." Vayren looked around the cockpit briefly. "An interesting choice."

"We actually didn't _choose_ the ship." Will propped his feet up on one of the empty sections of metal plating as Shansa did from time to time. "Shansa and I came into possession of the _Hyperion_ a few years ago after our old captain was killed."

The salarian raised a brow. "Oh? I was under the assumption you purchased the ship when you formed your mercenary band."

Will chuckled lightly. "'Formed' is not exactly how our little operation came into existence. Sommesh _forced_ us to become a team... but we figured it would be unwise to put an end to a good thing."

"Your group was formed _during _your confrontation with Project Sommesh?" Vayren tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Yeah." Will smirked to the salarian. "Being the master of gathering intelligence, I thought you'd have known that."

The Spectre shook his head slightly. "There is only so much information floating around out there, Captain Hume. And believe it or not, the exact comings and goings of your crew is not part of it."

"Heh, fair enough." He smiled curiously and adjusted himself in his seat. "So what's your story? You've been pretty damn secretive since we met."

"Secretive? Hardly." Vayren motioned to Will. "You just haven't asked."

Will raised a brow and sat up. "Well, I'm asking now."

The Spectre glanced out the window. "Well, as you know, I've only been a Spectre for nine months. Ten, in a few days." Vayren looked back to Will as he continued. "I have only had a handful of assignments as a Spectre, the lengthiest being... Project Sommesh. The others were minor things, really, nothing worth mentioning. In all honesty, before this mission, I conducted far more high-profile and dangerous operations during my tenure with the salarian STG."

Will nodded for him to continue. "STG... that's the salarian special forces, yeah?"

"To put a generic name on it, yes. Though the Special Tasks Group is just as much military as it is espionage." The salarian gave a small, proud smile. "It was a privilege to have served with them. A handful of wars in the Terminus Systems never began because of my unit."

"Damn, so you've been on missions as heavy as this one before." Will sat up surprise, his interest piqued.

"Absolutely," Vayren affirmed.

"Hm. Corsin made it sound like you were pretty green." He paused for a moment as the salarian raised a verdant brow. "I mean... inexperienced."

The Spectre nodded. "Well, it is true that I have not been with the Spectres for long, but Agent Rentarius does not know much about my service with the STG."

"Sounds like he could stand to learn more about you," Will suggested.

Vayren shook his head slightly. "Truthfully, he isn't wrong about my inexperience. Although the STG is said to have been the template for the Spectres... it's hard to describe the difference in personal accountability between the two. For me it is difficult to fully grasp, at times."

The salarian had very slowly averted his gaze from Will, though seemingly unconsciously. Vayren stared at one of the blinking nav panels in silence, his brow furrowed in contemplation. Will gently placed his hands in his own lap and laced his fingers as he watched Vayren curiously and waited for him to speak again.

"My apologies," the salarian said after a few seconds. "I was lost in my thoughts for a moment."

Will narrowed his eyes curiously. "It get the feeling that being a Spectre isn't what you anticipated."

Vayren stared Will down for a moment. Will assumed the Spectre was having an internal debate on whether or not he would open up to a mercenary captain he had only known for a week or two. The salarian let out a small sigh as he decided.

"I wouldn't say that, exactly. It's just quite different. As a Spectre, the whole galaxy knows that you're a hero. You're the Council's hand, doing good for every world."

"You sound like you're reading out of a pamphlet," Will mused.

Vayren nodded. "Precisely. And that's how the Council wants the galaxy to see the Spectres. But the STG... the only ones who know the extent of the accomplishments of STG operatives are their comrades." He lifted his chin proudly. "We were the nameless, thankless heroes. And we remember one another and those who came before us to ensure their effort meant something."

Will nodded understandingly. "So you don't like the responsibility or recognition that comes with the title of 'Spectre.'"

The salarian smiled slightly. "Like I said, Captain Hume, it is simply something I must learn to accept."

"You know, Corsin doesn't seem to have any qualms with throwing around his title," Will mentioned.

"Of course not." Vayren laughed slightly. "He is a turian, after all. Their take on military doctrine is all but the opposite of ours. They honor the names and faces of their heroes for centuries."

Will chuckled. "Very true."

"Pardon my intrusion."

Will and Vayren glanced over their shoulders to see Tul'Sorrin standing into the door.

"Oh, hey Tul," Will greeted with a smile. "Need something?"

The quarian nodded. "Yes. From Agent Vayren, actually."

The salarian eyed Tul suspiciously. "And that would be?"

"Well..." Tul'Sorrin paused for a moment. "I was curious about some of the equipment you use." His posture straightened slightly. "More specifically, your cloaking system."

"I see." Vayren nodded. "What did you want to know?"

Tul glanced to Will, then back to Vayren. "I was actually wondering if you might show me some of your systems. I might be able to optimize something..." He shrugged and tried to put on a casual tone. "Or, maybe, I could learn how to operate with the cloaking device... you know, whatever you feel like showing me."

The salarian shifted his gaze to Will. He human smirked lightly and nodded encouragingly.

"Eh, sure," Vayren replied as he looked back to the quarian. "Why not? It's not terribly difficult to learn the system." He pulled himself to his feet. "But I only have a few of the cloaking generators on hand."

Tul shook his head and raised a hand. "I can promise you that I know how to treat tech."

The salarian grinned slightly. "I'm well aware. That's the only reason I considered your request." He stepped through the door and past Tul'Sorrin. "Come on, then. We can cover most of the basics in a few hours." Vayren glanced back over his shoulder to Will. "I appreciate your time, Captain Hume."

"Good talkin' to you too," Will replied.

Tul'Sorrin turned to follow the salarian as he started off down the hall. "I've already done some research on the firmware the cloaking systems operate on and I've got a few tweaks in mind."

Their voices faded slowly as Will watched them continue down the hall and into the cargo bay. As they stepped out of sight he smiled and slid back down into his seat. He looked to the nav panel and let out a sigh; they still had a little under three hours to go. Will leaned his head back and shut his eyes, surrendering to the idea of a short nap.

* * *

"Everyone circle up," Will ordered.

He stood with the Spectres at his side as Kallux, Eleena, Tul'Sorrin and Tyrixis grabbed the last of the equipment from their workbenches and lined up for the mission briefing. Will looked over each of them as they approached. Kallux had been unusually quiet for the past few days, but Will knew he would need some time to get back to himself after what had happened on Tuchanka. Tul'Sorrin, on the other hand, was the opposite of his normally quiet and reserved self. The quarian practically bounced in place from the exciting prospect of putting the cloaking training he had received into action. Eleena stood beside him with an outward level of enthusiasm much closer to Kallux's. She had been working on the Kodiak for nearly sixteen hours straight in an attempt to finish her work before they reached Neidus. Unfortunately, there had still been much to do on the shuttle when they exited FTL a few hundred thousands kilometers from the planet. The last to ready herself with the group was Tyrixis. She held her helmet under her arm as she stood straight and stoically, ready to receive the mission orders.

Will cleared his throat slightly. "Hey, Tyrixis... er, Doctor Rentarius... _Major_ Rentarius..?"

"My rank upon discharge from the turian military holds no significance in the Terminus Systems or, in fact, with your crew. Tyrixis will suffice," the turian answered very matter-of-factly. "Doctor Rentarius is you insist on formality."

"How do you feel about Doc?" Will raised a brow hopefully.

Tyrixis shrugged, unamused. "Tyrixis, Doctor Rentarius, _Doc_... as long as it's clear enough to catch my attention during a firefight."

"That's actually what I was trying to get around to." Will nodded to her. "You really don't have to be on the ground with us if you don't want to."

"I've seen plenty of patients die on an operating table that could have lived had they received even the most basic treatment in the field." The turian shook her head. "I will be joining you. Besides, my marksman scores were virtually identical to Corsin's."

Corsin glanced to Will and nodded. "It's always nice to have another gun."

"True enough," Will conceded with a smile to Tyrixis. "Now let's get this briefing started. Corsin, you've got most of the intel, how'd you like to do most of the talking?"

"Of course." The turian answered as though the question had been implicit. Corsin stepped forward and looked around the circle. "This mission will be simple: get in, tear the place open for any shred of evidence we can find, and get out. Our target is an abandoned weapons manufactory that I believe was used by Narenthus Antarian for at least five years, abandoned less than six months ago. The planet, Neidus, is nothing to write home about: post-garden, low surface temperatures, but plenty of empty space for businesses trying to stay under the radar. Thankfully, this factory didn't.

"The facility is built into the side of a cliff-face, complete with a landing pad large enough for the _Hyperion _to land with ease." Corsin rechecked his omnitool. "When we got close enough I had Shansa and Tul'Sorrin run the scanners around the facility's coordinates. No signs of life."

Kallux crossed his arms. "How big is this place?"

Tul'Sorrin looked to his left where the krogan stood. "If our scans are correct... big. But we don't know exactly how big."

"Unfortunately," Corsin added regrettably. "As I said, the facility is built into the cliff-face of a mountain that interfered with most of our data probing."

Tul nodded. "The long-range scanners were disrupted by large deposits of metal in the mountainside."

"So as you already said, it's big," Will reiterated. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

Corsin shook his head. "No, but I do want everyone keep their eyes open wide. Even the most insignificant bit of information could mean the difference between a new lead and a dead end."

"So, keep our eyes open and stay warm." Eleena nodded. "Anything else?"

"No, that pretty much hits the nail on the head," Corsin answered with a hint of sarcasm.

"Any other concerns?" Will looked around the circle to see the others were silent. He glanced to Corsin. "Shall I make the call?"

The turian nodded. "Do it."

Will opened his comm channel to the cockpit. "Shansa, we're ready. Take us down."

"_Got it! Exiting orbit and setting course for the facility's coordinates."_

He closed the channel with a nod. "Alright, everyone into the airlock."

The squad broke from their circular formation and quickly secured their helmets and any other loose ends as they followed Will, Corsin and Vayren across the room to the cargo airlock. After the squad had filed in and secured the inner airlock door, Shansa's voice appeared over the ship-wide comm system.

"_I'm taking us in nice and slow,"_ she informed them. _"The fog in this place is thicker than any I've ever seen."_

"So we're headed to a creepy, abandoned, underground facility located on a planet with inclement weather." Tul'Sorrin tilted his head to the side slightly. "I can't help but feel like I've been here before."

Eleena grinned with a shrug. "Hey, maybe we'll get another benevolent krogan out of it."

Kallux chuckled. "Keep dreamin', Eleena. It's cute."

Will smiled to himself and pulled the exterior cameras up on his omnitool. Shansa wasn't exaggerating about the fog. He cycled through the numerous optical settings with little luck and closed out the omnitool with a sigh.

"_Touching down in five seconds,"_ Shansa reported.

Will pressed his finger firmly to the panel on the wall, causing the outer airlock door to slide apart. The squad looked out the doorway to see nothing but thick, gray fog. The thermal sensors on Will's HUD immediately adjusted, indicating the influx of near-freezing temperatures. He stepped up to the edge of the airlock and placed his hand on the bulkhead for balance as the _Hyperion _eased off of its descent and the roar of the belly thrusters initiated. The ship slowed until it was nearly at a standstill, then shook gently as the sight of the landing pad broke through the fog. There was a faint sound of metal-on-metal as the landing gears connected with the ground and the ship swung to a halt.

"Well, here we are," Will announced as he reached for his rifle and jumped to the ground.

The rest of the squad followed close behind with their weapons drawn but at ease. Once they had all exited the ship, Will reactivated his comm link to Shansa.

"We're on the ground."

"_Alright, stand clear. I'm headed back into orbit."_

"Let's move!" Will waved everyone forward and away from the ship as the belly thrusters ignited once again.

The _Hyperion_ slowly rose up from the landing pad as Shansa pushed the engines to full. Will looked back over his shoulder and watched as the blue glow of the ship's thrusters faded into the gray mist. He turned his attention back to the task at hand as he and the others walked forward, assuming that Shansa had inserted them in the right direction. After a few moments of walking the white glow of spotlights began to fade in through the fog in front of them.

"Lights," Tyrixis stated. "I thought you said this place was abandoned, Corsin."

"It should be," he answered slowly.

"You don't sound so certain," Vayren noted.

Kallux flipped a switch on the side of his cannon to send the power core into warmup. "Could be automated."

Will shook his head. "Let's not take any chances."

The squad calmly raised their weapons up without order as Will took point. They moved cautiously toward the pair of lights until, seemingly out of nowhere, the wall of the cliff-face and a massive set of doors appeared in front of them. The lights shone brightly from above the metal doorway that stretched up and out in either direction dozens of feet, making it nearly large enough to be a hangar bay door. The squad scanned the area in silence.

"Personnel door," Tul'Sorrin reported.

A waypoint blipped up on the squad's HUD as Tul motioned toward a relatively small door located past the far end of the large one they stood in front of.

"So it would seem," Corsin replied. "I'd be willing to bet that they used the big one for shipping and receiving cargo."

"Well, it exits to the landing pad," Eleena remarked. "So it's either that or they employed giants."

The group picked up their pace and hurried to the smaller door with Tul'Sorrin stepping ahead. He pulled up his omnitool as they reached the door and began his work to bypass the security system. After only a few seconds the controls blinked green and the door slid apart to reveal a decontamination chamber.

"That was quick," Will mentioned offhandedly.

"I'd love to take credit," Tul began as he lowered his omnitool. "But the lock wasn't even engaged. It looks like they wanted to get out of here quick."

Will stepped into the room and waited for the others to follow inside before shutting the outer door and opening the inner. He held his weapon up as the door slid apart to reveal a rather unremarkable hallway. Dim lights hung from the ceiling that looked to be shining at less than half their intended strength. The left wall was lined with window after window allowing sight into a massive chamber about the same width and height as the large door outside. The only illumination in the the large, adjacent chamber came from the faint light that shown through the windows. Will took a step into the hallway and toward the wall.

"Damn," he muttered.

The rest of the squad exited the airlock and Tul'Sorrin closed it behind them. Will's helmet tapped the glass of the window as he attempted to see as far down the chamber as he could. It extended far beyond the length of the hallway and out of sight.

"We need to find a map," Will decided as he turned back to the squad.

Vayren and Tul'Sorrin both began to speak at the same time, but stopped as they heard one another. They glanced to each other and the Spectre gave a small nod to Tul.

"We'll do what we can," Vayren said as he looked back to Will. "Hopefully there's still a terminal or two operational in this place."

"Hopefully. If there is, let's find it." Will readied his M-15 and began making his way down the hall. "Everyone keep your eyes peeled."

The hallway was only a few dozen feet long and ended at a pair of doors: one led forward, and the other to a ninety degree angle. As they neared the end of the hall, the door to their right blinked to life and parted. The squad froze in place and locked their weapons on the open door as two mechanical figures appeared. The heads of the robots turned toward the _Hyperion_ crew at the same instant and their bodies followed suit. Their arms raised and pointed the light security pistols in their hands at the squad.

"Unauthorized presence detected," the mechs vocalized in unison.

The mechs only got off a shot or two before they were cut down by a quick burst from the guns on the front line of the group. Will, Tyrixis and Corsin lowered their rifles as the robots fell to the ground, sparking and buzzing incoherently as their voice modulators failed.

"LOKI mechs," Kallux muttered. "Big favorite for Terminus gangs."

"And more evidence for your hypothesis," Vayren said to Tul. "It seems this facility was abandoned before they could even round up their security."

"_Attention."_ The voice of a VI emitted from the ceiling. _"Unauthorized intrusion detected. All personnel: please exercise caution. Security has been dispatched."_

Will let out a sigh.

Eleena stepped up to his side with a sly grin. "You didn't think this would be _easy_, did you?"

"Is it ever?" Will asked with a sideways glance.

Vayren cleared his throat to gather their attention. "Captain, I have a suggestion."

The squad turned to face the salarian. Will nodded and held his rifle at ease. "Go for it."

"I feel it would be best if we divided our resources."

Will frowned slightly. "Split up? I'm not sure splitting up has _ever _worked out."

Vayren shook his head in objection. "We could cover more ground this way."

"But our effective firepower would be cut in half," Corsin retorted.

"We do not need to divide ourselves evenly. I can move alone and use my cloaking generator to avoid any security mechs that I might run across." Vayren looked between Corsin and Will as he waited for a response.

Will hesitated. "I don't know... alone?"

"I could go as well," Tul'Sorrin suggested. "He gave me a rundown of operating the cloaking system." He quarian tapped his belt. "And I... might have brought one along. Just in case."

The salarian narrowed his eyes slightly, but quickly decided to abandon his objection. "That was... good thinking, Tul'Sorrin."

"That might work," Corsin admitted. "We could take all the heavy firepower and attempt to draw the security towards us, leaving them to analyze any tech undisturbed."

Will glanced to the others. "What do you guys think?"

Kallux shrugged. "If they can stay out of sight, I don't see why not."

"Tul can probably do some serious damage to those mechs even if they get caught," Eleena added.

Tyrixis remained silent.

"Okay, but be careful." With a nod of agreement, Will motioned toward the open door. "Which door do you two want?"

Vayren stowed his sniper rifle and retrieved the pistol on his belt. "We'll leave you to breach the closed door and take the open one." The Spectre turned and stepped up to the doorway. "We'll stay in frequent comm contact."

Tul'Sorrin hurried to the salarian's side as Vayren activated his omnitool and vanished in a small electrical flash. The quarian activated his crimson omnitool and, after a slightly longer bit of work, did the same.

"Stay vigilant, Captain Hume." Vayren's voice faded as it passed through the doorway.

"And, good luck," Tul'Sorrin added.

Will looked back to the others. "Everyone ready?" The squad nodded affirmatively. "Good. Let's tear up some mechs."


	12. Chapter 12

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 12**

_**Abandoned Weapons Manufactory, Neidus**_

"Left side! Three more!" Will shouted as he dove for cover.

The squad had only made it a few rooms into the facility when they were met by the first wave of security mechs. The LOKIs were quite standard in their design, as Corsin and Kallux noted, but they boasted far more impressive firepower than the standard bullet fodder used by gangs in the Terminus Systems.

"I see them," Corsin answered as he finished off one of the mechs from the first wave.

The Spectre raised his arm and omnitool toward the new group. The foremost LOKI sparked and jerked to the side as Corsin overloaded its high level systems. Corsin dove back down for cover under the combined fire of the two new mechs and the three others at the opposite end of the room. Will, Kallux and Tyrixis readied their weapons and looked over to Eleena and Corsin as they did the same in the cover of the set of columns they had jumped behind.

"Now!" Will ordered.

All five of them stepped out and picked a target. Eleena's SMG was the first weapon to snarl to life and spray bullets into the pack of slowly approaching robotic foes. Tyrixis and Corsin's rifles joined in a split second later, tearing into the weak shielding that surrounded the mechs. Will narrowed his eyes and quickly spotted the LOKI with the most threatening a armament: a rather nasty looking heavy shotgun. He took aim and squeezed the trigger to put a burst into its legs in an attempt to destabilize the mech's weak structure. Two of the five enemies had already fallen as Kallux's cannon finally jumped to life and barked harshly to send heavy slugs into the two who remained untouched. The mechs fired back feebly as they continued to march onward toward the squad, obviously not sophisticated enough in their programming to seek cover. After a few brief moments, the last of the robotic security buckled at the waist and twisted to the ground, sparking and popping from an electrical fire in its circuitry.

Eleena lowered her SMG. "Damn, talk about pushovers."

"Let's hope that doesn't change," Tyrixis countered. "There's no need to make this more complicated than it needs to be."

The group quickly spread out and began combing over the common area the small firefight had taken place in. The room was unsurprisingly barren and devoid of nearly everything but a few benches, tables and empty shelves. Will had crossed the room to inspect a dry and decrepit potted plant when a comm alert chimed in his ear. He opened the channel and nodded to himself.

"Go ahead."

"_Just reporting in,"_ Tul's voice began. _"We found a server room, but it looks like everything was wiped."_

Will sighed. "Figures. Any local data on the terminals?" He paused for a moment. "_Are there _any local terminals?"

"_Yes, just one here." _The quarian sounded as though he was concentrating on something else. _"I'm trying to see if I can find anything useful. Agent Vayren is looking for any portable data storage that might have been left behind."_

"Sounds good. Radio in if you find anything."

"_Understood, Captain."_

Will turned to the others to see that they had all given up on the search and were congregating around him.

"Team Sneak find anything useful?" Eleena inquired casually.

"Nothing of note," Will replied as he waved them on to the door and the next room.

The squad breached the door as they had the handful of others and lowered their weapons as they were led into a hallway. A few feet up to their left was another doorway that, given the proximity, could only lead into the enormous chamber that ran parallel to the rooms they had been moving through. Will glanced back over his shoulder as he turned toward the door.

"Wanna check out that big chamber?"

"Couldn't hurt," Kallux answered.

Will approached the door only to find it locked. Corsin quickly stepped in and put his technical skills to work. After a short bout of hacking the door buzzed angrily, but parted reluctantly as Corsin retracted the shunt program he had applied. Dim light from the hallway cast a pathway of illumination across the chamber to the far wall a few dozen meters away. Will gripped his rifle and took a cautious step through the door, letting his eyes wander. Off to the left was the set of cargo doors that opened up to the landing pad. To the right, about fifty feet away, the floor seemed to stop in place of a shaft that stretched the width of the room. He was about to switch on his flashlight when a buzzing sound from the ceiling caught his attention. Lines of white light flickered to life and illuminated the room fully. He turned back to see Eleena retracting her hand from a panel on the wall.

"Glad those were the lights," she mentioned with a grin.

"You and me both." Will turned and scanned the room briefly. "Alright, let's spread out. Looks pretty barren, but it doesn't hurt to be thorough."

Kallux and Eleena nodded and set off to the left side while Corsin and Tyrixis turned for the right. After a short internal debate, Will turned to follow the turians. He stepped up beside them as they slowly followed the wall and looked over shelves and opened, empty crates. Corsin glanced to Will and then back to the debris they passed by.

"I expected you to join your friends," the Spectre said with slight surprise.

"I almost did." Will eyed a closed crate ahead of them. "But I was actually hoping to talk with you two for a bit."

Tyrixis looked to him suspiciously. "And why is that?"

"My father used to tell me stories about when he was in the military. He had a lot of them." Will smiled as he recalled the tales. "He told me that the one thing that he could always count on in combat was his comrades. Not his marksmanship, not his judgment, his brothers and sisters in arms." He shrugged lightly. "I know it's not _exactly _the same thing, but I wanna be able to trust you two as much as I trust the rest of my crew. And to me, knowing a bit about my comrades goes a long way."

Corsin chuckled as he kicked a box aside. "You say the same thing to every Spectre you hunt dangerous fugitives with?"

Tyrixis gave Corsin a disapproving glance. "There's no need for mockery, Corsin. Captain Hume makes a good point. One should always be able to count on the soldier next to them." The doctor hesitated for a moment as she seemingly searched for a topic. "Captain Hume, you mentioned... your father was in the military?"

Will nodded. "That's right. He served as a marine with the Alliance." He glanced to the turians. "He was on the ground during the First Contact War... fought at Shanxi."

The doctor looked to him and met his gaze. "I also served at Shanxi; though I was not deployed until the final days of combat."

He offered a small smile. "Dad said you guys were a hell of a fight."

Tyrixis raised her jaw and nodded approvingly. "And the Systems Alliance proved their strength as well."

The trio came to a stop at the edge of the square shaft that sank into the floor at the end of the room. It appeared to be around fifty feet deep with a massive set of bay doors at the bottom that resembled those at the opposite end of the room.

"Freight elevator," Corsin deduced. "I'd bet that the actual manufactory is down beyond those doors."

Will nodded in agreement. "We'll find a way down after we finish looking around here."

The group back away and turned to continue their scan of the area by heading back down the far wall that would eventually lead them back to Kallux and Eleena.

"So, your father was Alliance military?" Corsin inquired.

"That's right," Will answered with a nod. "He's the one who taught me how to handle a weapon."

"But you did not enlist?" Tyrixis asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Well, he wasn't a career soldier, but I did consider it. I already had employment in our colony though, so I eventually decided against it." He smirked lightly. "Also, I didn't think I would really mesh with military culture... I can be a bit of a smart ass."

Corsin chuckled. "I had that problem as well."

Tyrixis let out a small sigh. "Thankfully you didn't stick around long enough for that to become an issue."

The Spectre shrugged. "It was for the best."

Will raised a brow. "You can't just dangle that in front of me and not elaborate."

"If you insist." Corsin looked over to Will. "I was only in the turian military for a few years, but I clawed by way up the ranks pretty quickly."

"An incredible feat, given how terribly insubordinate your behavior was during your service," Tyrixis scolded.

"I got results and the brass took notice," Corsin countered. "Well, for a while, at least. And then Prysia happened. Probably would have been tried in military court had the Spectres not swooped in to claim me."

Will nodded for him to continue. "Prysia?"

"Small turian colony," Corsin explained. "My company was sent there to investigate after we received word of increased hostile activity in the system... mostly batarian pirates, but we speculated that they were being backed by the Hegemony. I was a lieutenant at the time and the commanding officer of my platoon, thanks to my captain. Good officer, really appreciated the fact that I could get things done. We arrived at the colony and everything seemed quiet enough, but we knew that there was no reason not to stay for a little while... just in case. So the three platoons split and found quarter in each of the three largest population centers."

"It was business as usual there for about two weeks. Then, out of nowhere, we started getting reports of unidentified ships exiting FTL just outside atmosphere and descending to the surface. They were batarian, five in total, and were headed straight to the area my platoon was stationed at. I reported to the captain and was told to meet the pirates with stiff resistance to show them that the colony was under guard." Corsin paused for a moment. "I... disagreed, but I didn't have time to offer an alternative. They'd already landed and were moving toward our position."

Will couldn't help but be entranced by the turian's fast, nonchalant manner in which he recounted the story.

"I quickly weighed my options and decided to disobey the orders. Instead of meeting with resistance I ordered my unit to stay low and not to engage. I led the platoon to a position near a choke-point in the city and set up for an ambush. About a half an hour later, after gathering up some prisoners, they passed through the ambush point. We annihilated them. Half of them were dead before they even realized they were under attack. Unfortunately, there were a few stray bullets." The turian paused and shook his head. "Two of the civilians were killed. Six more wounded."

"But you got the pirates, right?" Will could feel the anguish in Corsin's voice.

"Yeah. We got them. Twenty-eight in total." Corsin drew in a deep breath. "We didn't lose a single man, either."

Tyrixis shook her head. "You violated direct orders and got civilians killed." It was clear that the siblings had had this argument before.

"I know that, Tyrixis." Corsin grunted in irritation. "It was a hard call, but it had to be made. If we had repelled them as soon as they landed they would have gotten away. After hearing the details about Project Sommesh, I don't want to know what they were planning on doing with those prisoners. They could have abducted dozens more or ambushed another turian unit had they retreated."

"It wasn't _your _call, Corsin." Tyrixis halted and gave him a stern stare. "The chain of command exists for a reason. If you act like it doesn't mean anything, what's the point?"

The Spectre closed his eyes and came to a stop. "You know how this argument is going end, Ty. We've had it a million times now." Corsin turned to face her. "The reason the Spectres recruited me is because I could make the hard choices, chain of command or not. The past two decades I've had a lot more innocents than those two civilians die because of my actions. But every one of them died so hundred more would live." The turian narrowed his eyes. "You've known me for long enough to know that I sure as hell carry that burden on my conscience."

"Sorry to interrupt," Kallux interjected as he and Eleena approached them.

Corsin did not skip a beat. "Did you find anything?" He looked to the krogan and asari.

"Nothing," Eleena replied. "You?"

"That shaft at the end of the room looks like a freight elevator. If there's nothing else here, I think we should try to find a way down." Will looked around the squad for a response.

Before they could answer, the sound of an incoming comm signal chimed in his ear. He opened his omnitool and fed the incoming transmission to the entire squad.

"_Captain Hume, we've got something."_

Will nodded and looked to the others as they listened patiently. "What've you got, Vayren?"

"_Tul'Sorrin and I were able to salvage from raw data from a wiped memory core. Unfortunately, it's old and consists mostly of employee ID numbers and their shifts. We did, however, find a schematic of the facility. Assuming it was built to spec, it should function well enough as a map."_

"Good timing," Corsin commended. "We need to find a quick route down a few levels."

"_Tul'Sorrin is finishing up a compatibility pass on the data to be sure it will display correctly on our HUDs. It should be ready momentarily." _Vayren sounded outright impressed with the quarian's ingenuity.

"Perfect." Will smiled and nodded to the squad. "Let's get moving."

As the group crossed the barren chamber and into the door they had entered through, a familiar robotic voice sounded from the hallway.

"Hostile forces detected."

A pair of LOKI mechs hobbled around the corner ahead of them and drew their weapons. Will pressed himself to the wall on his left and fell to his knee, bringing his weapon to bear on the two targets. Corsin, Tyrixis, Will and Eleena fired a series of bursts in near perfect unison, sending mechanical components scattering across the floor as the mechs fell to the ground without even firing a shot.

"I'm starting to think these things are designed to _mildly inconvenience_ you to death," Will grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet.

Eleena smirked and gave him a look. "Would you rather have the acid-spitting spiders?"

"Well when you say it like that..." Will grinned and set off for the first turn and headed left.

As they passed through the next door a file appeared for access on their HUDs. Will raised his omnitool and retrieved Tul's makeshift map. He looked down at the screen as they moved forward at a slower pace and found a nearby stairwell that seemed to lead to a large chamber about the same size as the one they had just searched. Will gave a quick look-over of the rest of the facility and determined that there was not much else in their direction. The path Tul and Vayren had taken, however, seemed to have at least a dozen rooms that could be anything from maintenance stations to dormitories. He shut off his omnitool and reequipped his rifle as they neared the door that opened into the stairwell. After a quick descent they reached the door that, according to Tul'Sorrin's map, opened to the largest room in the facility.

"Weapons ready," Will ordered as he stepped up to the control console.

The squad held their weapons on the door as it slid apart to reveal, as expected, an enormous dark chamber. Will slowly stepped in and looked to the wall beside the door. Just as Eleena had discovered in the first chamber, a panel beside the door functioned as a light switch. He activated the lights and made a quick scan of the room as the rest of the squad stepped up behind him. The manufactory seemed to be set up for assembly line production, but there were very clearly gaps and scattered equipment throughout the chamber. A few large shapes on the floor indicated where pieces of machinery had once shielded areas from dirt and debris.

"Let's spread out," Will suggested. "See what we can find."

Will watched as the group parted and dispersed in all directions. He waited for a moment, then hurried to catch up with Eleena as she looked over a piece of machinery at the center of the room that towered nearly a dozen feet tall and spanned a quarter the length of the chamber. She glanced over to him as he stepped up beside her.

"I thought we were spreading out," the asari said with amusement.

"I can leave if you'd like." Will met her gaze and raised his brows.

Eleena motioned to her side and turned to begin walking the length of the machinery. "Only four directions in the room, right? One of them is gonna have to double up."

"If that's how you wanna rationalize it." Will grinned and walked beside her, carefully scanning the workbenches and carts scattered about the room.

"I love this stuff," the asari mentioned offhandedly.

"What's that?"

She nodded to the industrial manufactory equipment. "Hardware like this. Reminds me of the shipyards my father worked at when I was growing up."

Will nodded. "Oh yeah... your father was a mechanic, right?"

"Yep." She smiled to herself. "I learned most of what I know from him."

"About being an engineer?"

"Most importantly, yeah. But I picked up a lot more than that." Eleena let out an almost bashful laugh, something Will had never heard from her. "Heh, his vocabulary, for instance."

Will grinned knowingly. "Sounds like an interesting guy."

The asari shifted her gaze to Will with a soft smile. "He was." Eleena nodded to him. "What about your parents? You've mentioned that your mother passed when you were young... but what about your father?"

Will looked up from a crate that he hand been inspecting. Eleena had asked about his father and Arvuna plenty of times before, but he always deflected and avoided the question. Then it finally hit him: the reason she would always pull away whenever they felt something between one another. Just ten minutes ago _Corsin _had been more open than he had been to Eleena. Will did his best to hide the irritation he held for his own social ineptitude.

"I guess you've asked me enough times for an answer," he replied to a smile from Eleena.

Will looked around the room quickly. The others were far out of earshot and focused on the hunt for intel. He felt bad for stopping his own search for a moment, but they would have all night to turn this place upside-down in their search.

"He was a great man," he said earnestly. "He raised me to be who I am today. I like to think he did a pretty decent job."

"I'd agree with that," Eleena added sincerely.

Will smiled thankfully. "He moved us to Arvuna with Shansa's family during the colony boom... he's the reason I'm out here and not working in some factory like this one on Earth." He shook his head. "I wish I could have thanked him before he... _they_... died."

"They?"

Eleena looked to him, listening intently. Will was relieved to see that she was indeed interested. He glanced around the room once again, then motioned for Eleena to follow him as he stepped into the rows of machinery that populated the center of the room. He leaned back against part of the assembly line as she did the same across the small aisle.

Will looked up to see her waiting for him to continue. "It happened about seven years ago. Shansa and I were out on one of the maintenance skiffs... God, Arvuna was gorgeous at night. Even though she was only nineteen she was already a great helmswoman, so I'd asked her to teach me the basics. I didn't want to be a deckhand on the harvesters forever." He smiled lightly. "After we'd finished up what she'd wanted to teach me for the night we spent a few hours laying on the deck and talking. I was having some problems that my father had promised to talk to me through, but we were already late and I knew I had missed dinner."

"What kind of problems?" Eleena sounded genuinely concerned.

"Nothing important," Will answered with a half of a laugh. "I was twenty years old and didn't know where my life was going. I don't know what the equivalent age for asari might be..."

"Well, adult maturity is a little different between our species, by the sounds of it," Eleena replied. "We're technically, 'adults' in our sixties in terms of mental and physical growth, but that doesn't mean we don't continue to mature through our experiences."

Will shrugged lightly. "I don't know, I'd say the same is true for humans. We just don't have specific names for the stages of our lives like you do."

She nodded in agreement. "True enough. You were saying...?"

"Right, right... we were out on the skiff until around midnight when we decided to head back." Will's expression stiffened. "It was obvious there was something wrong as we approached... we could see fires and hear a lot of gunshots. Shansa brought us toward the docks and we could see a ship at the landing zone nearby that neither of us had seen before. It was big, too. Way bigger than the supply vessels we normally saw. I pulled up the security channel on the comms to see what was going on and... it was a mess. No one was listening to anyone else and a lot of them sounded delirious. Some said pirates, some said slavers, one even said it was the Turian Hierarchy, back to get their revenge." He shook his head in irritation. "A lot of humans still didn't trust turians at the time."

"A lot of them still don't," Eleena mentioned. "But a lot of turians feel the same way, so..."

Will let out a sigh and nodded in reluctant agreement. "Anyway, I wanted to help, but Shansa wouldn't bring the skiff near the island. And it's a good thing she didn't. I couldn't have done anything but get myself killed. So we waited... felt like hours, but I think they were gone about thirty minutes after we had arrived. The security channel was dead silent, so she brought us in and docked." He closed his eyes and smirked as he recalled the moment vividly. "She still went through the proper disembarkation procedure, too."

"Always the professional," Eleena mused with a small smile.

Will opened his eyes and took a calming breath. "We tried to stay out of sight... just in case they had landed another ship nearby. We passed by some fires. Lots of bullet holes. We saw a few bodies, too, people we knew. After that, we didn't bother with staying low and sneaking around... we just ran. I was getting sick to my stomach. Me and my father's prefab was closer so we headed there first." He averted his eyes. "The door was blown open and the common room was a fucking mess. We... we found him in the storage closet face down in his own blood... shot through the back four or five times. I don't remember the next five minutes... I could have been crying, mumbling and shaking my head... hell, I could have just been standing there staring like an idiot." Will cleared his throat gently. "He probably died before the motherfuckers had even left the house."

Eleena stepped up to him without saying a word and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. The gesture took Will by surprise and he looked up to see her eyes staring back, almost glowing with sympathy and concern. He took in a deep breath and reached up to grasp her gloved hand in his. Will gave her hand a small squeeze before pulling it down between them and smiling softly.

"Thanks, Eleena."

"Are you okay?" She tilted her head slightly.

"I'm fine. Really. It's been almost eight years now and I came to terms with it a long time ago. My father wanted to give me a better life, and I'm not going to let some misfortune stop that from happening." Will pulled his hand back to his side.

The asari nodded gently. "What did you and Shansa do after that?"

"I grabbed the rifle from his footlocker and we searched for Shansa's family, but... they were gone. Her mother, father and sister." He shook his head. "Colonial security arrived after a few hours to pull us and the handful of other survivors out. They took us to the capital, Asa, and gave us some housing while they started the investigation. Never did let us go back. For a while after that it's kind of a blur; we just spent the next few months dealing with it all. Shansa and I had been close before, but after that... I don't think you can form that kind of bond under just any circumstance. I mean, she's the only family I've got." Will let out a sigh. "The rest isn't nearly as heart wrenching. We found a newly renovated ship that was looking for a crew and jumped on board."

"_Hyperion_," Eleena said knowingly.

Will nodded. "Yep. Captain Nieto brought us on without a second thought. After he found out what happened to us he kind of took us under his wing. He showed us how to run a ship."

"Glad he did," she added with a small grin. "But I can't believe he didn't tell you to always have an engineer on board."

"Aheh," he smiled and shook his head. "Damn, made me laugh." Will looked to her with a warm smile. "So where was the sweet Eleena when I came looking for a mechanic and met you for the first time?"

Eleena smirked and crossed her arms. "She's always been here. But at _that_ moment she was behind the Eleena that kicked your ass for being a presumptuous asshole."

"Thanks for that, by the way," he said with an embarrassed laugh. "And thanks for accepting my apology."

"I'm pretty good at sensing when someone's putting on an act." Eleena grinned and nodded cockily. "I'm glad you started acting like yourself around new people."

"Well, I realized pretty quickly after I met you that I wasn't doing myself any favors by acting like a dickhead."

After a small laugh from Eleena they fell silent.

Will watched as she looked at the ground and shook her head before looking up to him and meeting his gaze.

"Thank you, Will." Her voice was soft, an inflection that Will was beginning to hear more and more during their private conversations. "I haven't had someone to be... open with... for a long time."

Will crossed his arms. "You know being open usually goes both ways."

"Yeah, it does," she shook her head and chuckled softly. "And to think, I almost got away without paying my share."

"I hope you're not implying that you need me to keep you in check," Will grinned.

Eleena narrowed her eyes slyly. "You wouldn't be able to if you tried... Captain."

Will raised his brows and opened his mouth to reply when something caught his eye. The grin on his lips sunk as he shifted his eyes over and beyond Eleena's shoulder. The asari's expression changed to that of slight confusion and turned to follow his gaze. Neither of them had noticed at first, but at the far end of the room, visible through a row of the machinery, was a fairly large set of doors. However, the door panel had just begun to glow orange and managed to attract Will's attention. He and Eleena exchanged a quick look and nodded in agreement as they both started off down the aisle of manufactory equipment and toward the far end of the room. As they stepped out at the end, Will looked to the side to see Kallux examining the contents of some crates in the nearby corner. The krogan looked up as they approached the door.

"Kallux, did anyone check this door?" Will pulled up his omnitool to find the map Tul'Sorrin had sent them.

"Not that I know if," the krogan replied as he set the box in his hands on the floor.

Will found the schematics and tapped through them to find the production chamber.

"It's an elevator," he muttered as he glanced back up to the door.

As if on cue, the doors pinged softly and slid apart. Will and Eleena's eyes widened as they turned to sprint back into the labyrinth of machinery. Behind them, stepping out of the elevator, was at least five LOKIs and a colossal YMIR heavy mech behind them.

"Hostiles!" Kallux shouted as he hurried to find cover. "Big ones!"

"_On our way!"_ Corsin shouted over the comm from the opposite end of the room.

The mechs drew their weapons in sync and immediately found a firing angle on the human and asari as they sprinted back to cover. Bullets from the rifles and shotguns wielded by the LOKIs as well as the hellfire from the heavy mass accelerator cannons on the YMIR sent their shields flaring and sparks igniting around them. Will slowed just slightly to allow Eleena to edge in front of him and into the gap between machinery first. They turned at their first chance and put thick tons of metal equipment between them and the mechs. Will tripped as he followed Eleena into cover and felt a sharp pain near his ankle. He grunted and rolled onto the ground as bullets whizzed past them.

"Where are you hit?" Eleena shouted as she drew her SMG.

Will looked down to see blood dripping onto the floor. "My ankle, I think."

He pressed his back to the side of a large piece of manufactory equipment and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Eleena had already prepped a dose of medi-gel and was kneeling down at his side to apply the salve. The sound of Kallux's cannon erupting over that of the mech's rifles as well as the warmth and relief of pain from the medi-gel gave him the strength to jump up to his feet. He pulled up his rifle and looked out into the open end of the room where the mechs had entered from the elevator.

"I'll find another firing position," Eleena stated as she turned in the opposite direction to find another gap in the assembly lines.

"_Uh, Will! Can you hear me?"_

He had just caught a glimpse of the mechs as Shansa's voice sounded in his ear. Their robotic foes had quickly abandoned following Will and Eleena and were now slowly marching toward wherever Kallux had taken cover. Heavy slugs from the krogan's weapon tore into the smaller LOKIs and sent one to the floor a crumpled mess.

"Can it wait?" Will finally replied to the pilot. "We've got a little bit of a situation down here!"

"_It's about to get worse,"_ Shansa insisted nervously. _"A ship just came out of FTL and began descent toward the surface. Unless there's something else nearby that factory, I'm pretty sure they're headed for you."_

He raised his rifle and put a quick burst into one of the LOKIs, sending it to the floor just as a storm of SMG rounds from wherever Eleena had positioned herself impacted another.

"Did you get anything on it?" Will asked quickly, trying to split his concentration evenly.

"_Only a rough silhouette. It's a little bigger than us but not as wide... probably a corvette."_

The YMIR planted itself and, after a quick charge, blasted off a rocket from its arm. The explosive rocketed out of Will's field of view and exploded off near Kallux's position. A few seconds later, the heavy cannon resumed firing. Will drew a shot on one of the two remaining mechs as assault rifle fire from somewhere off to his left gunned it down before he could pull the trigger. The turians had arrived.

Will shook his head. "Is it military?"

"_I don't know, Will, it's in atmosphere now!" _Shansa let out an exasperated sigh. _"It'll be at your location in less than five minutes."_

"Understood," he answered grimly and cut the channel.

With a grunt from the pain in his ankle, Will stepped across the aisle in the assembly line and toward the end of the room where Tyrixis and Corsin were firing from. He darted through a small gap in the machinery and looked to the right where the turians stood in firing position at the corner of a workbench near the end of the assembly line. Will limped slightly as he hurried over to them. Corsin glanced over his shoulder as the human arrived.

"Kallux has its attention," Corsin reported as Will stepped behind the workbench and drew his rifle on the heavy mech.

All five of the LOKIs had fallen to the floor, destroyed. The YMIR was still very much active, however, and slowly stomping toward Kallux as he quickly poked in and out from behind a support column on the opposite end of the room. Corsin raised his fist and struck the YMIR with an overload, causing it to pause for a moment before regaining functionality. Then, without warning, the mech stepped to the side and made a quick rotation to bring its weapons to bear back on Will, Corsin and Tyrixis.

"Damn it, Corsin," Tyrixis muttered.

The mech lowered its left arm to prime another rocket. The trio instinctively leapt toward the safety of the assembly line as the rocket fired and soared into the side of the workbench, tearing it apart and sending the debris hurtling into the wall. Will rolled and shouted in pain as his wounded ankle caught the brunt of his weight. Bullets from the YMIR's mass accelerator cannon sprayed into the wall and floor where they had stood just a second earlier. The mech's heavy footsteps followed as it lumbered toward the corner of the machinery they had taken refuge behind. Corsin, Will and Tyrixis jumped to their feet as the mech stepped around the corner and brought its weapons up on them. As the mass accelerator cannon buzzed, just about to ignite, a pair of thumps rang out from out of sight. The "head" of the YMIR that housed the sensor modules exploded into pieces from two perfectly placed shots from Kallux's cannon. Unable to locate a target, the mech's arms raised higher into the air and discharged into the ceiling. The Spectre, captain and doctor all took aim with their rifles and laid down a sheet of indiscriminate fire. Under the combined force of all three weapons, as well as the continuous fire from Kallux and a few bursts from Eleena, the armor plating finally gave out and tore away. Bullets streamed through the YMIR's construction, sending chunks of robotic innards spraying across the room in every direction until a loud buzz rang out from somewhere inside the mech. It seized up and fell to the ground with a heavy crash.

"You're wounded," Tyrixis stated almost instantaneously.

Will looked over to the turian to see her looking down at his still bloodied ankle. "We'll deal with it later."

Eleena and Kallux came running around the corner and stepped around the YMIR's corpse.

"We have to go, now," Will ordered as he turned to lead them to the exit.

The squad exchanged a few quick glances and hurried to catch up with him.

"What are you talking about?" Corsin challenged. "We've still got-"

"There's a ship coming," Will interrupted as he quickened his pace. "Shansa said it's headed right for us." Without waiting for the others to respond he opened a new comm link. "Vayren, do you read me?"

The response came barely more than a second later._"Affirmative, Captain."_

"Drop whatever you're doing and get to the exit, _now._"

The squad passed through the door they had entered from and into the stairwell that would take them up to the surface level.

"_We still have quite a bit of-"_

"Just do it!" Corsin's voice had suddenly joined in the conversation. "We have possible hostiles on their way to our location."

"_Understood,"_ the salarian answered.

The comm channel fell silent. Will jumped up the stairs with the others on his heel, his heart still pounding from the fight. As they reached the top he sprinted through the doorway and into the hall that led straight to the personnel airlock. The squad passed through the four smaller rooms they had cleared earlier before coming to the entrance hall where they had first split from Vayren and Tul'Sorrin. Will nearly jumped out of his boots as the perpendicular doors parted and the salarian and quarian passed through, the two groups nearly colliding. They fell into position as Will ran for the airlock and waved everyone inside. Tul'Sorrin tapped a few select keys on the door panel and forced the outer door open before the inner had even closed. The fog had cleared slightly since their arrival, allowing them to see almost to the other end of the landing platform. Rather, they might have been able to see it had a ship not blocked their view. As Shansa had surmised, the starship was a tad longer than the _Hyperion_, but looked much more sleek and flashy. It had more than a small bit of turian influence in its appearance, but Will was certain that it was not a ship produced by the turian military. More unsettling than the ship, however, was the trio of turians standing on the landing pad a few meters in front of them.

"Come on out," the turian at the center said reassuringly.

Unlike the two heavily armored turians that stood at his side, the one in the middle wore what looked like a hybrid of turian casual wear and battle armor. Over his mouth was a small breather to substitute for the lower oxygen in the atmosphere, but his clan paint was clearly visible: black stripes that ran from the tip of his mandibles back to the base of his neck. The squad gripped their weapons in their hands and followed Will as he took a cautious step out through the airlock. He stopped just outside the doorway, his rifle slung across his chest.

"Who are you?" Will asked flatly as Corsin and Vayren stepped up to his side.

The turian's eyes widened slightly in amusement. "Oh, forgive my manners and the lack of an introduction... I expected you to recognize me." He took a step forward and gave his head a small bow. "Narenthus Antarian. I believe you're looking for me?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 13**

_**Abandoned Weapons Manufactory, Neidus**_

"Narenthus Antarian?" Corsin repeated.

The rogue Spectre nodded affirmatively. "That's right. I was hoping we could talk for a moment."

Vayren stepped up beside Will. "I'm sorry, but that will have to wait. I am placing you under arrest by the authority of the Citadel Council."

Antarian chuckled lightly. "By the Spirits, it does feel good to say that, doesn't it?" He held up a finger. "But do you know what feels even better? Telling the Spectres and Council no."

"I hope you don't think we shy away from using deadly force," Will advised with a cocky smirk.

"Of course not," Antarian replied earnestly. "I know that a Spectre will do anything to finish his mission, believe me. And you..." He looked Will up and down quickly. "Well, I know you aren't a Spectre, but you certainly appear to be a man of action. That said, however, it would be in your best interest to cooperate and converse with me through _civil_ means." The rogue Spectre motioned over his shoulder to the ship behind him. "Unless, of course, you would like a firsthand demonstration of my corporation's latest line of point-defense ship weaponry."

The _Hyperion _squad watched as a set of four enormous mass accelerator cannons positioned strategically around the hull of the corvette turned and pointed their barrels toward them. Will tensed slightly, but turned his attention back to the turian as the cannons held their fire.

"So... how'd you know we were here?" Will asked.

"Well, if you must know..." Antarian turned and began to pace from side to side. "My contacts within the CDEM alerted my organization when two Spectres began accessing data relevant to my operations. When you departed the Aralakh System in your ship, the _Hyperion_ I believe, I deployed probes to monitor ship traffic around relays leading to systems where my once publicly-listed facilities were located. When they detected you were en route to Neidus, I followed." He stopped and turned back to them. "Has your curiosity be sated?"

"Well enough." Corsin looked as though he was barely holding back from jumping at their foe. "You wanted to talk. Now talk."

Antarian nodded once. "Yes, of course. You're all busy individuals, after all. I have a proposition for you."

Will raised a brow suspiciously. "That being?"

"Well, as I'm sure you have gathered, I have no interest in being arrested." The turian pointed over his shoulder to the armed ship. "Hence the firepower. But I also have no interest in killing you at the moment. In fact, doing so would indeed _increase_ by chances of being captured."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Vayren inquired.

"Thank you for asking, Agent Vayren." Antarian nodded to the Spectres. "I can only assume that the Council has deemed my capture a high-priority mission, given the involvement of _two_ Spectres. I know the Council well enough, unfortunately, to know that they would only double their efforts to find me if you went missing or turned up dead. So, I would like to offer an alternative that benefits both of us."

"Get on with it," Corsin muttered through gritted teeth.

The rogue Spectre took a step forward. "What I propose is that you all return to the Council and inform them that you were able to locate me and, through a series of unfortunate events, were forced to kill me in a way that prevented my body from being recovered of identified." He shrugged to himself. "Say I fell into a star or something creative like that." Antarian stepped back. "The Council would be none the wiser to my continued operations out here in the Terminus Systems and, best of all, you don't have to die under the guns of the _Pride of Kalabsha. _I won't force you to make the decision this very moment, but I will tell you now that if you continue to pursue me I will have no choice but to defend myself."

Will glanced to either side. Corsin and Vayren both stared at Antarian grimly as the rogue Spectre stood silently waiting for a response.

"We'll consider it," Corsin finally answered after a few tense seconds.

"That's all I ask for," Antarian added as he and his bodyguards began to backpedal toward his ship. "Your consideration. And to make the decision even easier for you, allow me to remove some of the temptation to continue your search."

A loading ramp had extended from the belly of the corvette. Antarian reached into his pocket as he and his bodyguards stepped into the ship and produced from it a small cylindrical object with a red button adorning the top. He clicked the button firmly and dropped the trigger to the ground as the ramp rose up and shut. The engines on the ship roared and sent it leaping into the air, sending dust and debris swirling across the landing pad. Will watched the trigger as it rolled to its side on the ground, a small light on the end blinking at an ever-quickening pace.

"Move!" He shouted as he realized the implication.

Will and the rest of the squad sprinted forward and away from the airlock of the factory. A few seconds later, a chain of shock waves shook from deep inside the mountain and sent Will stumbling to the ground as the force of the explosion sent the door of the personnel airlock flying from its frame. The door crashed to the surface of the landing pad behind them as the rest of the squad dove to the ground to make themselves smaller targets for flying debris. Small pieces of rock and dirt rained around them as Will rolled over and sat up on his elbows to see the smoke billowing from the ruined doors of the facility.

"God _damn _it!" Will climbed to his feet and took a step toward the factory as the sound of roaring flames grew.

The others stood around him and stared in silence.

"Well, what is our plan now?" Tyrixis gave Will and the Spectres a sideways glance.

Will raised his omnitool to open a channel with Shansa. "We need a pickup, Shan."

"_Is everything okay?"_

"No," he answered honestly. "It's not."

* * *

Shansa blinked in disbelief. "He wants us to give up?"

"Essentially," Vayren replied.

Corsin leaned against the briefing table at the center of the bunkroom. "But that's not going to happen."

"Unless you've got another abandoned factory to poke around, we might have trouble finding a lead," Will said from across the room.

He sat in a chair beside the bunks with his leg raised. Tyrixis was kneeling at his side, concentrating as she removed small bits of shattered bullet and armoring from his ankle. Despite the recently applied local anesthetic and orally ingested painkillers, he continued to wince in pain as she poked through his flesh with needle-like forceps.

"Did we really get _nothing _out of that?" Eleena asked from the doorway where she and Kallux stood.

Tul'Sorrin cleared his throat to grab their attention. "Actually, I still have some data to analyze. Agent Vayren and I were able to pull some old encrypted files when we found those blueprints of the factory." He shook his head. "It's a long shot, but..."

"Do it," Corsin ordered. "Anything will help."

"So, I assume were _not _giving up, right? Do we have destination?" Shansa raised a brow and looked around the room.

Will shook his head. "Just keep us in orbit until- aggh!" He jerked his leg back as Tyrixis pulled a sizable chunk of shrapnel from his flesh.

The doctor glanced up to him and nodded. "Until..?"

He let out a pained sigh. "Until further notice..."

"I could use a hand finishing the repairs on the shuttle," Eleena suggested as she looked to the pilot.

Shansa glanced over to the asari and nodded happily. "Whatever ya need!"

The engineer looked to Will and raised a brow. "So... is the debriefing over?"

He glanced to Vayren and Corsin. "That's all I've got. What about you two?"

Corsin shook his head quietly.

"I have nothing else." Vayren glanced to Tul'Sorrin. "Shall we get to work on that data?"

The quarian nodded affirmatively and the pair headed through the door to the crew's quarters and Tul's workstation.

"Well, I guess Shansa and I will get to work on the shuttle," Eleena said. "Kallux, you wanna lend a hand?"

The krogan nodded and followed the asari as she turned and led them into the hall. After watching them leave, Will looked down to his ankle to see Tyrixis had finished her work and was applying another small layer of medi-gel. She glanced up to him and reached for a medical wrap.

"You should be fine in a day or two," she informed him. "We'll change the wrap and give you a fresh dose of medi-gel in about eight hours."

Will nodded affirmatively. "Thanks, doctor."

Tyrixis finished dressing the wound and nodded in satisfaction. "There. Try to keep your weight off of it."

He nodded and set the leg back down on the floor. "I'll try."

As Tyrixis packed up her medical kit, Will looked over to the table where Corsin stood silently. He did his best to keep the weight off of his ankle and stood with a small grunt.

"Hey, Corsin, you alright?" Will walked up to the turian's side and leaned against the table beside him.

The Spectre shook his head. "He was _that close_, Hume. I could have spit on his feet."

"So he could mow us down with his guns designed for destroying _ships?_ No thanks." Will nodded reassuringly. "We'll find him, Corsin."

The turian glanced to his side and shook his head. "You don't need to convince me. It's just a little hard to feel optimistic at the moment."

"Yeah, I get that."

Will looked to the corner of the room where Tyrixis was packing her equipment back into the medical locker. Corsin continued to stare at the wall in silence.

"Well, I'm gonna try to get some rest," Will said as he stepped away from the table.

Tyrixis shut the door of her locker and turned to face them. "That would be for the best."

"I'll let you know if there are any significant developments," Corsin informed him.

Will nodded and crossed the room to the door. "Thanks. And by the way, good work down there."

* * *

After a quick trip to the armory to remove the rest of his hardsuit, Will returned to the bunkroom and ascended into the loft. He exhaled deeply as he dropped down to the couch and swung his legs up onto the cushions beside him. Will leaned his head back as his eyes drifted shut; Tyrixis had warned him of the possible drowsiness that accompanied the pain medication he had ingested. Within a few minutes he had fallen into a deep sleep that lasted until two deep thuds woke him three hours later.

He stirred and forced his eyes to open. "C'mon up."

Eleena pushed the hatch open and pulled herself halfway through. "Sleeping while everyone else does the hard work, I see."

Will smirked and pulled himself into a sitting position. "Hey, I'm the captain."

"Well, _Captain_, I've got some good news." Eleena jumped up into the loft and locked the hatch behind her.

"Good news and you're the one to deliver it?" He raised his arms over the back of the couch coolly. "What else could I ask for?"

"Yeah, yeah, silver-tongue." She crossed her arms and stepped up in front of him. "Shuttle's good and ready to go."

Will smiled up to her and blinked a few times to force the drowsiness away. "Music to my ears."

The asari stepped to the side and dropped to the seat beside him. She glanced down to his ankle and nodded.

"How's it feel?"

"Fine. I've had worse. Hell, you've had worse." Will looked over, his smile still lingering.

She pretended to wipe her brow. "Thank the goddess. For a second there I thought you might have actually considered that scratch a real wound."

"Heh, a month ago I probably would have just slapped some medi-gel on it and been done." He shrugged lightly. "If we've got a doctor, why not take advantage?"

She gave him a half-smile. "I'm glad you're okay."

Will nodded gently. "Thanks."

They both averted their eyes briefly. Will was about to say something when Eleena took a deep breath and beat him to the punch.

"So, you feel like finishing that conversation we were having?" The asari shifted her gaze back to him.

"Thought you'd never ask," Will replied with a sigh of relief.

Eleena nodded. "Good. Because there are some things I... need to say." She shook her head and let out an irritated sigh. "If I can form a fucking coherent thought."

He chuckled lightly. "No rush."

"Alright." She drew another deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I feel like I should explain a few things to you." Eleena paused as she found her words. "My last relationship... it ended badly."

"Gee, really?"

She gave him an icy glare.

"I mean... sorry." He shook his head and slunk back in the seat.

Eleena rolled her eyes slightly. "It ended about five years ago. I don't need to bore you with the details, but let's just say I thought I could trust her and it turns out..."

"You couldn't?" Will raised a brow.

"Well, I was looking for something a bit more _descriptive_, but yes." Eleena closed her eyes and shook her head. "We served on a ship together for three years. We were... close for about two. Then, just like that..." She opened her eyes. "Sold me and most of the crew out and left us for dead. I had to tear through about ten Eclipse initiates just to survive. And I barely did. I didn't serve on another ship until... well, until you and Shansa came along."

Will tilted his head curiously. "I thought you said you hadn't been on a crew for a few years when we met."

She nodded. "That's right."

"But you joined up after only knowing us for a _day?_" Will shook his head. "Why?"

"I'd been wanting to get back into space for a while." She frowned shamefully and lowered her voice. "I figured I would be safe enough with only you and Shansa to keep my eyes on."

"Eleena, I don't know who this woman is that hurt you, but look at me." He held out his arms. "You really think I would or could do the same thing to you?"

She shook her head gently and looked away. "Now? Of _course_ not. And I think... I think I do trust you, Will. It really hit me earlier. While we were staring Antarian down, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I doubted your loyalty and dedication to us. To me." Eleena looked back to him. "And I feel the same way, but not just as a member of your crew. I care about you."

Will smiled softly. "I care about you too, Eleena."

"I know you do, Will." She smiled gently. "I've known for a while. I just needed to know that you trust me as much as I trust you."

Eleena's eyes wandered from his dark brown hair down to his chin and then back up to meet his gaze. He moved his hand down from the back of the couch and gently cupped her cheek in his palm.

Will jumped slightly as his omnitool beeped twice to inform him of an incoming transmission. Eleena smirked slightly and pulled away from his hand. She stood and crossed her arms, waiting for him to answer the call.

He let out a sigh and raised his wrist. "This is Will."

"_Vayren and Tul'Sorrin have got something."_ It was Corsin._ "We need you down here."_

The turian was very clearly excited about the development. Will lowered his arm and pulled himself to his feet. He glanced to Eleena and shook his head.

"Couldn't have been timed better." He smiled to her as he crossed the room and opened the hatch.

The asari stepped up behind him as he lowered a foot to the top wrung of the ladder.

"You sure the Spectres didn't bug this place?" Eleena watched as he took a few steps down.

He laughed for a brief moment, then froze in place. "Uhh..."

She smirked and shooed him down. "Just go."

Will grinned to himself as he slid down to the floor and stepped to the side as Eleena followed behind him. He hurried through the doorway and across the forward hall to the crew's quarters where Tul sat at the seat in front of his computer terminals. The Spectres stood at either side of the quarian, reading through lines of data that were pulled up on the center monitor. Vayren glanced over his shoulder as Will and Eleena entered and turned to greet them.

"Welcome, Captain Hume." The salarian stepped toward them. "We need to set a course for the Citadel, immediately."

Will raised a hand. "Woah, slow down. The Citadel?"

"You're not considering Antarian's 'proposition,' are you?" Eleena narrowed her eyes.

"Of course not." Corsin did not break eye contact with Tul's screen as he answered.

Vayren headed back toward Corsin and Tul'Sorrin and motioned for the others to follow.

Will stepped up behind the quarian's seat and leaned forward. "What's the situation, Tul?"

Tul'Sorrin tapped away at his keyboard happily. "I'm glad you asked, Captain." He reached up and pointed to the list they were examining. "This may be our lead."

"Very helpful," Eleena remarked sarcastically. "Care to explain what _this_ is?"

"Transaction records," the quarian explained. "Along with a few items from someone's personal itinerary. I was able to salvage them from the memory core of a broken holopad we found on the floor of the facility."

Will nodded understandingly. "So what does it tell us?"

"It tells us that whoever this tablet belonged to arrived at the facility on Neidus for some sort of inspection, and while they were there, checked their accounts." Tul looked back over his shoulder. "We've got the account numbers that the payments came from."

"And the account numbers..." Will began.

"Are registered on the Citadel," Vayren concluded. "Which is why I requested that we set our course right away."

"Brilliant find," Corsin admitted as he straightened up and stepped away.

Tul shook his head. "It really wasn't anything special. But next time you need to get rid of all the data on your holopad, just keep in mind that wiping the local storage and smashing it won't always get of the last of it." He crossed his arms cockily. "If there's a cache... clear it."

"So is that all we got?" Eleena looked down to Tul hopefully.

He raised his hands. "Is that not enough for you? I pulled this off of a _destroyed _piece of hardware!"

Will laughed and gave the quarian a firm slap on the shoulder. "Good work, Tul."

Eleena glanced to the Spectres. "So we know the accounts are on the Citadel... what do we do once we get there?"

"It should be simple enough to track down some information on the accounts once we get there." Corsin had certainly pulled himself out of the funk he was in a few hours earlier. "We find the owner of the accounts, they give us all the information we can squeeze out of them, and then some, and we'll have leads as far as the eye can see."

"That's certainly optimistic," Will noted.

Vayren nodded. "And to make the situation even better, any eyes Antarian might have on us would report our destination. He might assume we just took his deal and returned to the Council to inform them of his 'death.'"

"Well, you don't have to convince me," Will said as he activated his comms. "Shansa, you there?"

"_Yep! Just chattin' with Tyrixis in the cargo hold. What's up?"_

"We've got a destination," he answered, trying to hold back his excitement. "I need you to plot a course for the Citadel."

There was a brief pause.

"_The Citadel?"_

"That's right."

"_...I'll set the course right now!"_

The sound of footsteps clattered from the cargo bay and into the hall. They caught a brief glimpse of the pilot as she darted past the doorway toward the cockpit.

Will lowered the mic and glanced to the Spectres. "Wait, what about our warrants?"

Corsin chuckled. "Oh, I wiped those a few minutes after you agreed to assist us on Omega."

Eleena raised a brow. "I thought that was supposed to be a payment for completing the mission."

"As did I." Vayren stared the turian down.

Corsin let out a satisfied laugh and strolled out of the room.

Tul'Sorrin watched him go and glanced over to Will. "I'm starting to like him."


	14. Chapter 14

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 14**

_**MSV Hyperion, en route to the Citadel, Serpent Nebula**_

"This is MSV_ Hyperion,_ requesting an approach vector and berth."

Shansa was somehow more giddy than usual. Will stood just outside the cockpit with his head through the door to look out the forward viewport. The Serpent Nebula was a gorgeous amalgamation of purples and blues accented by countless specks of light from distant stars. He did his best to hide his excitement as his eyes scanned the vista for a glimpse of the station.

"_Request received, _Hyperion_. Please transmit your security clearance."_ The response came from a woman and was very flat and professional.

Shansa glanced to the copilot seat where Vayren was waiting with his omnitool. With a few taps of his fingers he sent the data and lowered his arm as they waited for a response. After a few seconds the traffic control officer replied, her tone much more accommodating.

"_Welcome to the Citadel, _Hyperion._ Do you have a preferred docking zone?"_

Vayren leaned forward. "Somewhere at the base of the wards. I'd like easy access to the Presidium."

"_Docking bay C48 is located on the base of the rise that connects Tayseri Ward and the Presidium. Will that be sufficient?"_

"Yes, thank you, officer." Vayren smiled and leaned back in the copilot's seat.

A few moments later a message appeared on the navigation console.

"_Please proceed on the transmitted flight path to your berth. Normally, a C-Sec inspection team would be dispatched to meet you and perform a standard security sweep, but this action will be waived as requested by Spectre Corsin Rentarius. Enjoy your visit to the Citadel, _Hyperion."

The transmission ceased as Shansa brought up the flight path and adjusted the ship accordingly. With his job done, Vayren stood from the seat and stepped past Will to make his way toward the crew's quarters. Will took his place and sat on the edge of the chair as he stared through the forward viewport.

"You actually look excited." Shansa glanced to her side briefly with a grin.

He smiled. "Maybe a bit."

She pretended to gasp. "Can it be? That elusive something that brings out the childlike wonder in cynical ol' Will?"

Will held his smile. "I barely remember when we came here during our immigration. I don't think we even left that processing terminal, remember?"

"Yeah, I do," Shansa nodded. "And we didn't have any windows with a view like this..."

It was almost as though she had timed the conversation intentionally to fall in place with the flight. The _Hyperion_ rounded past a thick bloom of gas and rotated to bring its course in line with what at first looked like a hard-edged shadow. As they grew closer the sight of the Citadel came into view, starting first with the tips of the arms before slowly stretching down the length of the station, ending at the ring of the Presidium. Will and Shansa could not help but stare, enamored by the majesty of the very center of galactic civilization.

"Wow..."

Will looked over his shoulder briefly to see Tul'Sorrin standing in the doorway.

"I've never seen it before," Tul said slowly.

"I'm bringing us in," Shansa informed them.

The _Hyperion_ soared into an arc that brought the ship flying past the tip of one of the arms. Will peered through the side viewports to watch as tiny buildings, skycars and other ships on the ward below flew by at breakneck speed. The ring of the Presidium grew larger in the forward viewport as Shansa began to decelerate and bring the ship down to docking velocity. Will looked over and watched as the pilot bit her lip slightly in concentration, clearly trying her best to fly as professionally as possible.

"C48..." Shansa muttered. "There it is."

The _Hyperion_ slowly drifted into its berth as the magnetic locks that would hold it in place automatically adjusted for the size and shape of the ship's hull. Shansa brought the vessel to a near-perfect stop as the docking armatures reached for the _Hyperion_ and locked into place. Will watched the external vid-feeds as two boarding ramps extended and adjusted to come flush with the ship at both her forward and aft airlocks.

"And that's all she wrote." Shansa smiled and ran her hand along the controls around her to put the ship's systems into standby. "I'll need a minute to be sure everything powers down properly."

Will nodded and jumped to his feet. "Alright, I'll go let everyone know we're docked."

He looked into the hallway to see Tul'Sorrin had vanished at some point during their approach. He shrugged to himself and ducked through the doorway and into the hall. After a few steps Will glanced into the crew's quarters to see Vayren and Corsin talking.

"Hey, we're here," Will informed them as he turned into the room. "What's the plan?"

"Corsin and I were just discussing that." Vayren glanced to the human. "Unless you have any objections, we were planning on heading to the Spectre offices to look for any information we can find on these bank routing numbers."

Will looked to both of them. "So what should the crew do?"

Corsin shrugged and walked toward the door with Vayren following close behind. "We've got a lot of digging to do and it'd be too much trouble to get everyone access to the Spectre facilities for just a few days." He looked back over his shoulder as he stepped into the hallway. "Take the day off. There's plenty to see on the Citadel."

Will watched as the Spectres passed by and followed them into the hall. Corsin had already walked to the forward airlock and was reaching to open the inner door.

"You sure you don't need any help?"

The airlock opened, allowing the turian and salarian to enter and turn back to face Will.

"Captain, I'd say you and your crew have earned a day of shore leave." Vayren crossed his arms. "We will not hesitate to contact you if and when we find anything."

Corsin nodded in agreement. "Relax. Have some fun, Hume." He raised his omnitool and put in a few commands. "There, the whole crew should have the highest level of civilian security clearance. No need to let C-Sec waste half of your day at checkpoints."

The door slid shut and locked as the decontamination sequence began. Will smiled to himself as Shansa came walking up to his side, finished with her work in the cockpit.

"So?" The pilot tilted her head curiously.

"Looks like we've got some free time." Will turned to walk back to the cargo bay with Shansa hurrying to walk at his side. "'Shore leave.'"

They stepped into the cargo bay to see Kallux and Tul'Sorrin standing beside the Kodiak, talking to one another. Tyrixis stood at her armory locker, setting various pieces of gear onto the shelves therein. Through the door to the engine room was Eleena, looking through the post-flight data on the FTL core.

Will cleared his throat. "Hey, everyone circle up."

As he and Shansa came to a stop at the center of the cargo bay the others turned their attention and made their way over. Will crossed his arms as he waited.

"We're here," Will stated with a smile.

Tul'Sorrin came to a stop and nodded once. "Where do we start?"

"_We_ will not be starting anywhere," he answered as the rest of the crew reached them. "The Spectres are going to get as much as they can out of their databases. Until then, we've got some free time."

Everyone exchanged a few quick glances.

"How much time?" Eleena asked curiously.

"A day or so," Will answered. "I think I'm gonna head down to the ward we docked on, Tayseri I think, and do some sightseeing. Anyone care to join me?"

Shansa, Tul'Sorrin and Eleena nodded in response. Will looked to Tyrixis who, after looking to the side and considering the offer for a moment, nodded as well. Kallux, on the other hand, did not answer right away.

"I'll prep the decontamination chamber," Shansa said excitedly as she turned and skipped off toward the forward airlock.

Tul, Eleena and Tyrixis followed after the pilot as Will and Kallux stood and stared to each other.

"I was hoping to do something else," Kallux finally replied. "From what I remember, the Presidium is very calm and quiet. I'd like to head up there for a bit. I need some time off the ship to just sit and think."

Will gave him an understanding smile. "You need to talk, Kallux?"

The krogan let out a small sigh. "I've had a lot on my mind since we left Tuchanka and I've still got a lot more to ponder." He smirked lightly. "When I'm done, yeah. Then I'll need to talk."

Will chuckled softly. "Alright. I'll give you call on the comms if anything comes up."

"As will I."

Shansa's voice came shouting from the forward hall. "You two coming or what?"

Kallux motioned Will along. "I'll head out to the Presidium in a bit. Go enjoy the sights. I've already seen plenty."

Will hurried to the airlock where the others were waiting patiently. He zipped in and pressed his finger to the panel on the wall that would activate the decontamination sequence.

"Sorry about that." He looked to them as white mist began filling the room. "Kallux is going to do his own thing for a bit."

Eleena's lips sank into a small frown. "I think something's wrong with him. He hasn't been himself for weeks."

"Can't blame him," Shansa said. "Sounds like he had a rough time on Tuchanka."

"He'll be okay," Will assured them. "I'm sure he just needs time to come to terms with everything."

The outer airlock door pinged and hissed as it slid apart to reveal the long, enclosed boarding ramp that extended to the _Hyperion_ from the docking area. The crew stepped out of the ship and Will closed the airlock behind them as the rest proceeded onward down the ramp. As they approached the end, a door opened into the ship's private docking bay. Will stepped in and came to a stop, his eyes slowly scanning the room. The color palette was a pleasing mixture of white, dark blues and grays and the furniture in the waiting area looked terribly comfortable. A small gasp to his left caught his ear, making him spin on his heel. It was Shansa. She was staring wide-eyed through the floor to ceiling window that lined the wall on the left side of the airlock, her hand raised and covering her parted lips. Tyrixis, Eleena and Tul'Sorrin had already grouped up around her as Will turned to join them.

Tul placed his hand on the glass. "Damn..."

Will stepped up behind the others and looked through the window for himself. The view was breathtaking. The dock was positioned hundreds of meters up from the base of the Tayseri Ward, allowing them to see the entire length of the arm as well as the other four that all together formed a comforting, protective, and almost nurturing circle. Thousands of ships and skycars bustled about in the lanes of traffic that cut through the airspace around the wards. Will looked across the length of arm and shook his head in disbelief of the size and quantity of buildings that dotted the surface.

"Look!" Shansa nearly squealed in excitement as she pointed off to the side.

Everyone followed her finger to see a behemoth of a ship, most likely of asari origin, on course to gracefully pass between the Tayseri Ward and the adjacent arm.

"I never thought I'd get to see the _Destiny Ascension_ in person," Shansa remarked as she stared intently at the ship.

"I could spend _years_ in those engine rooms," Eleena grinned.

Tul shook his head. "Forget the ship... I'll take this view."

"Don't let the beauty fool you," Tyrixis advised. "You've got to watch your back here."

Will gave her a sideways glance. "What do you mean?"

"She means there's just as much trouble here as there is anywhere else in the galaxy," Eleena explained. "On Omega it's the crime bosses that you have to watch out for. On Illium it's the corporations. Here? Politicians and bureaucracy."

"Well it's a good thing we've got two Spectres on our side," Tul'Sorrin countered as he stepped back from the window.

"Two Spectres who gave us top-level civilian security clearance," Will added as he turned for the exit on the far wall.

Tul, Tyrixis and Eleena followed Will. Shansa lingered for just a few moments longer before reluctantly pulling herself from the window and jogging to catch up with them. Will led them through the door and into a large room that served as hub for a half dozen different docking bays. The moment they stepped over the threshold they were yanked from the seclusion of their private docking station and thrust into the busy world of the ever-moving Citadel. People of every race talked and darted about in every direction, signing forms, maneuvering cargo and escorting fresh visitors to and from their destinations. Will spotted a terminal a few meters away with sign reading "Information" beside it. As they approached, a purple and blue holographic representation of an asari blinked up from a pedestal on the floor.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Tayseri Ward. My name is Avina, and I am pleased to be your virtual guide throughout this level of the Citadel space station." The VI turned to look at Tyrixis and nodded cordially. "Welcome back, Doctor Tyrixis Rentarius. It has been one year, eight months and six days since the Citadel last welcomed you."

Tyrixis shook her head. "Has it been that long?"

"So, you're like a... concierge?" Will reiterated to the VI.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I am a fully functional guide, capable of directing and assisting you toward locations of interest."

Will shrugged lightly. "We just arrived... got any ideas?"

"Certainly," Avina replied. "My first recommendation would be Seraxis Tower. Located in the center of Tayseri Ward, Seraxis Tower offers a full range of amenities and services such as fine dining and entertainment, shopping, luxury hotels, the Amala Museum of Galactic Expansion, and of course, the Citadel-famous Seraxis Observation Deck, located on the top floor of the tower."

"Sounds good to me." Will looked back to the others quickly to see them nod in agreement.

Avina nodded. "Would you like me to hail a taxi for your party?"

Will smiled thankfully. "Yeah, sure."

"Please proceed to the taxi terminal located directly to your right-hand side. Your cab will arrive within two minutes."

"Damn, talk about efficiency," Tul'Sorrin noted with a small laugh.

Avina simply offered a diplomatic smile. "Is there anything else I may assist you with?"

"That'll do for now," Will answered. "Thanks for the help."

"Goodbye, and thank you for using Avina." The VI stared straight ahead as the crew turned to leave. "Please enjoy your visit to the Citadel."

* * *

The Spectre offices were unusually quiet when Vayren and Corsin arrived to begin their work. They quickly set to work on one of the terminals designed specifically for Spectres to pull information off of virtually any network on the Citadel. Vayren finished setting up the scan and sat back in his seat with Corsin standing beside him.

"It'll take a few minutes," the salarian mentioned.

"I'd expect as much." Corsin glanced around the room to the handful of other agents as they worked or talked among one another. "That was a damn great find, by the way." The turian looked back down and nodded to the half-destroyed datapad that sat on the desk. "I probably would have just left the thing on Neidus."

Vayren nodded. "I almost did as well. Tul'Sorrin is the one who grabbed it and insisted that we give it a look."

"Glad he did," Corsin remarked as he finally lowered himself into a seat beside Vayren's. "Even so, you've done great work." He paused and gently cleared his throat. "I feel as though I should apologize. I've been a little... quick to judge you on your lack of experience with the Spectres."

Vayren shrugged. "Well, I can't blame you."

"You should," the turian laughed. "I looked into your service history. Your record with the STG is impressive."

"It's funny that we find ourselves on this topic." Vayren gave him a small smile. "I was just talking to Captain Hume about the difference between the STG and Spectres." He looked over to Corsin. "I still have a lot to learn. It's nice to have someone around who knows the ropes."

"I know the ropes?" Corsin asked with amusement.

The salarian nodded. "More than I do. I still have no idea how far is too far when it comes to pushing our Spectre authority."

"That's an easy one," Corsin chuckled. "You push it until the Council itself tells you to stop. Then you push a little more."

"I see." Vayren adjusted himself in the seat.

The turian gave him a quick glance. "Don't sell yourself short, though," he reassured. "You performed well and stayed cool on Neidus when that bastard reared his disgusting head."

"I'm just glad Antarian had the sense not to kill a pair of Spectres in cold blood." Vayren let out a defeated sigh.

"Well, he was a Spectre himself. He knows that the Council doesn't take the death of its operatives lightly." Corsin looked down and shook his head. "Still... something doesn't feel right. He was insane enough to start _two _conflicts for war profiteering, yet he had the forethought to recognize the consequences of spurring the Council to greater action."

"Perhaps he didn't think the Council would notice or care about what he was doing in the Terminus Systems when he started the wars," Vayren reasoned. "Now he's had his Spectre status revoked and the Council has sent two agents to bring him in. He's scared."

The turian let out a disapproving sigh, unconvinced. "But he started the second war _after_ he was declared rogue. No, there's still something we're missing here."

The terminal blinked green.

"Now, what did we find." Vayren leaned forward to scroll through the data. "Addresses associated with the accounts. I'll check to see where they're located."

The salarian typed in a few commands and blinked in surprise. "The Presidium. Corsin, this address is..."

The turian's eyes had grown grim. "I know. Damn it."

"Should I contact Hume and the rest of the team?" Vayren raised his omnitool.

Corsin quickly shook his head. "No, not yet. We need to double check this. _Triple_ check it. There's no point in risking a diplomatic incident if we don't have to."

Vayren nodded understandingly and began to recheck their work.

* * *

"Now _that_ is a lot of options."

Will stared at the map of the Seraxis Tower with Eleena, Shansa, Tul'Sorrin and Tyrixis standing around him. Tul raised his wrist and downloaded the omnitool map that was advertised at the corner of the screen.

"This might come in handy," the quarian mentioned. "I have a feeling we're going to get lost."

"Well we could go to the observation deck," Shansa suggested as she looked down the list of attractions. "Or that museum." She reached forward and tapped a box to bring up a description of one of the restaurants. "Oooh, look! A fusion cuisine restaurant called Meld that pulls from all of the galactic races!"

"'An exciting and unique blend of asari, salarian, human and more with dining options for turian visitors,'" Will recited from the screen. "And it has a casino. Could be fun for dinner in a few hours."

Shansa tapped through a few pictures and frowned. "I don't know if I have anything nice enough to wear to this place, though."

Eleena smirked. "Neither do I, thank the goddess."

Shansa's eyes widened and she spun to face the others. "We could buy dresses! I've wanted to get something nice for myself forever."

The asari let out a groan. "Dresses? I thought you'd have noticed by now... I'm not a dress person, Shansa."

Will looked Eleena up and down quickly. She was wearing one of the black jumpsuits that seemed to make up the bulk of her wardrobe. He couldn't hold it against her though, as they were great for getting down and dirty with the equipment in the engine room.

"It doesn't have to be a dress!" Shansa argued. "Come on, if nothing else you can tell me if I look good in _my_ selections."

Eleena sighed. "Okay, fine."

Shansa beamed and looked to Will. "I _know _you don't have any nice clothes."

"Eh, I'll just wear this," he replied. "I'm sure there are some businessmen on this station who go for that 'rogue merc pilot with a hint of class' look."

Tul'Sorrin laughed. "Oh, is that what you call your style?"

"Fine," the pilot didn't bother arguing and looked to Tyrixis. "What about you, doctor?"

The turian had been almost completely silent since they had left the ship. She stood with her arms behind her back as though she were at ease in formation.

"I will have to pass on the invitation for dinner, unfortunately. I have some personal matters to attend to tonight."

Eleena gave Tul'Sorrin a quick look over. Before the asari could make a quip about his clothing options, he spoke up.

"I would be happy to attend," Tul stated as he looked to Will.

Will pulled up his omnitool. "I'll make a reservation for four then."

Shansa grabbed Eleena by the hand. "Let's go!"

The asari smirked softly and followed the pilot as she dragged her toward the elevator.

"Just message me the time of our reservation," Eleena called as they disappeared into the crowd.

Will finished reserving their table and lowered his wrist to see Tyrixis and Tul'Sorrin standing idly at his side. He turned to face them with a small smile.

"So, we've got a few hours to burn."

Tul'Sorrin nodded in agreement. "Meld is on the forty-first floor, so we'll be up there tonight, why don't we head down to the lower levels and see what's down there?"

"Sounds good," Will looked to the turian. "Tyrixis?"

"After you," she answered.

After a quick elevator ride they found themselves on sub-level six of the Seraxis Tower. Will was surprised to see that the "ground" floor of the building seemed to just be a rough estimate. Through the windows one could see deep gorges crisscrossing from end to end of the ward. Tyrixis informed him of a myth that buildings and structures on the Citadel could once be moved by the keepers using the space provided by these gorges. However, such activity has not been witnessed for hundreds if not thousands of years. The trio continued to wander through the aisles of shops and bars for a good hour before stumbling across an arms store that caught Tyrixis's eye.

"Armax Arsenal," she read. "They produce the rifle that Corsin and I use."

"They do?" Tul gave the store a curious look. "I've never seen a rifle like yours before. I didn't know it was mass produced."

"That's because it wasn't," Tyrixis stated with a small chuckle. "He managed to get his hands on a few limited release models through the Spectre Requisitions Office." She looked over to Will and Tul'Sorrin. "He was... kind enough to send me one."

Will smiled as they stepped past a pair of asari looking over a floor to ceiling advertizement. "Sounds like he's a thoughtful guy."

The doctor nodded. "He is. For all the disagreements between us... he's still a good man."

The group continued further into the depths of the building, passing by a few bars that looked to cater toward the less-than-friendly crowd that would be up near the top of the tower. As they passed by a few maintenance alleys a distant shout caught Will's attention. Tul and Tyrixis heard it as well and the three came to a stop as they listened for the source.

"That didn't sound right," Tul'Sorrin muttered.

Another shout came echoing from down the alley to their left. This one sounded much more frantic than the first and bordered on a scream.

"Someone is in trouble," Tyrixis said firmly. "Come on."

The trio hurried down the alley past crates and boxes stacked in every possible position. They came to a fork and looked down both directions to see a group of people off to their right. Shouting could be heard as a group of similarly-dressed individuals circled around someone or something at the center of the alley. Will, Tyrixis and Tul walked side by side as they approached them. As they grew closer it became apparent that the group consisted of four or five turians, all males, dressed in a dark blue attire. Will recognized the getup as the casual wear that many of the members of the turian military wore when off-duty as a way of representing their position. At the center of the group was a pale-blue asari with frightened eyes, throwing weak kicks and punches at the turians.

"What the hell is going on here?" Tyrixis demanded as she, Tul and Will approached.

The turians turned in surprise. It was obvious from the way they swayed from side to side that they were at the very least mildly intoxicated.

"Fuck off," the closest, a corporal by the insignia on his shoulder, declared.

Will narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing to that woman?"

The asari was grabbed by one of the turians to hold her in place. "I'm just a waitress," she pleaded. "I left the bar through the employee entrance down the street and these assholes were waiting for me."

"Let the girl go," Tyrixis ordered.

"Get outta here," the corporal advised through slurred words. "If ya don't, we'll beat yer asses to a fuckin' pulp."

The other soldiers laughed and shouted approvingly at the taunt.

Tyrixis stepped forward, her voice calm and deliberate. "I _order _you to release that woman, Corporal."

"We're on shore leave," a private shouted boastfully. "And even if we weren't... we don't take orders from old bitches, suit-rats and varren-fucking humans."

"That's _Major_ Old Bitch," Tyrixis informed them with a growl.

"I'll say!" The drunken corporal shouted, clearly not understanding the assertion from Tyrixis.

He raised a fist and lunged toward the doctor.

Tyrixis dodged to the side and threw a deep punch into the attacking soldier's side, sending him toppling forward and to the ground. Unfortunately, his friends had jumped after him and were closing on Tyrixis. Will and Tul'Sorrin stepped up to her side as the soldiers charged, the asari jumping behind a pile of boxes to hide. Will lunged forward to meet the closest turian soldier and sent a hard punch straight into his face. Both shouted in pain from the impact as the turian tumbled to the side and Will felt the skin on a pair of his knuckles split from the rough surface of the turian's face. Tul raised his omnitool and sent his pair of holographic drones into the fray to discharge a small burst and shock one of the soldiers.

Will ducked as a punch from a dark-skinned turian soared past his nose, barely missing him. He sent a kick into the turian he had punched just to make sure he fell onto the ground while Tyrixis found herself locked in a one on one with the loud-mouthed private. The corporal that had instigated the brawl had collected himself and jumped to his feet. He threw the private aside and grabbed a knife from his belt as he charged Tyrixis with eyes full of rage. Will caught sight of the knife in the corner of his eye and turned to tackle the wielder away from Tyrixis. Before he could, however, the doctor pulled her sidearm from the holster concealed under her short medical jacket and fired a shot into his leg, sending the corporal to the ground wailing in pain.

"Get on the ground!" Tyrixis bellowed as though she was a drill sergeant.

She swung her sights toward the four remaining turians as they quickly raised their hands and backed away from Will and Tul'Sorrin. Tyrixis stood patiently as they dropped to the ground, their hands still visible.

"You all are a disgrace," she lectured, her voice still elevated. "No, no I take that back. Disgrace is not a strong enough word to describe you disgusting pieces of filth."

The asari poked her head out from behind a crate and, upon seeing her attackers subdued, turned and ran as fast as she could down the alley. Will watched her run before glancing over to Tyrixis with a nod.

"Didn't know a civilian could carry guns on the Citadel."

Tyrixis gave him a quick look. "Most members of Citadel security are turians. Being a retired officer of the turian military has its perks." She looked back to the cowering soldiers. "Why did you do this?"

The drunken private shook his head. "I... I dunno..." He blinked a few times as though his vision had become blurred.

"I've already called C-Sec," Tul'Sorrin mentioned.

The doctor shook her head and lowered her weapon. "This is what twenty years of peace does to your military. Impatient, itching for action, and ready to jump on the first fight that comes their way."

Will smirked slightly. "Like the way your people attacked us during first contact?"

Tyrixis continued to stare at the soldiers but gave one small nod. "In hindsight... yes."

The sound of sirens began to echo through the streets and alleys around them as at least one C-Sec squad car approached. Will let out a sigh and leaned against the nearest wall.

"Hope this doesn't make us late for dinner."


	15. Chapter 15

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 15**

_**Tayseri Ward, the Citadel**_

"Look, that's all that happened," Will reiterated. "You've seen the vid. My technician captured the whole thing."

The asari C-Sec officer sat on the opposite side of the table with her arms crossed and eyes bearing down on him. Will stared back, a hint of impatience in his expression as he quickly grew tired of the cramped interview room.

"Don't worry." Her face relaxed. "It's just part of the procedure. Given the visual record of the incident, the inebriated state of the aggressors, your companion's military record and the fact that you all were granted security clearance by none other than _two _Spectres... I don't think this case is going to take much work to close. If these five turian soldiers don't enter a plea, they're fools."

"Thank god," Will groaned. "Because I've got a dinner reservation in twenty minutes. Can I get out of here?"

The C-Sec officer looked down and fingered through a set of notes. "In just a moment, yes. Though we will be in contact with you, Doctor Rentarius and Tul'Sorrin vas Hyperion as you will most likely be asked to give a statement in court. Even though it seems to have been entirely in self defense, shootings are not taken lightly by C-Sec."

"Can't promise we'll be able to make it back here for the court date," Will informed her.

She waved a hand dismissively. "A call on a secure communications channel will suffice." The officer powered off her holopad and stood. "Thank you for your cooperation, Captain Hume. If you'll follow me, I will escort you back to the lobby."

Will stood up and trailed behind the asari as she led him from the small room and down the hall. The C-Sec station was small, no more than the size of the cargo bay of the _Hyperion_. She stepped to the side as they reached the entrance room and gave him a courteous smile.

"Have a good day," she said. "And stay safe."

"Can do," Will answered as he walked past her.

Tyrixis and Tul'Sorrin were already waiting patiently by the door as Will approached and straightened his jacket.

"There goes _four hours _of our day off," he muttered irritably.

"Four hours and my pistol," Tyrixis added irritably. "Confiscated for evidence."

Tul shrugged. "At least they were quick about it."

Will sighed and continued onward through the door to the street. He looked up through the gaps in the tall buildings surrounding them and took a deep breath. He could still enjoy the rest of the evening.

"If there is nothing you need of me, I must depart," Tyrixis informed them. "Buying a new sidearm has been added to my list of errands to run before we leave."

"Go for it." Will shifted his gaze back down to her and smiled. "Tul and I should get to Meld."

The doctor nodded. "Thank you both for the company. Though I wish it could have involved fewer police reports."

"Heh, I could say that about a lot of things," Tul mused.

"I'll let you know if anything comes up," Will said with a nod.

"I appreciate that, Captain." Tyrixis bowed her head in goodbye and headed off toward the taxi terminal.

Tul'Sorrin turned his attention to Will and looked him up and down. "Are you really going to wear that?"

Will glanced down at his clothes to consider them. His boots were utilitarian, but clean. His dark slacks were most likely the nicest he owned and he had secretly chosen them when dressing because of this. The white dress shirt he wore was more than a little worn in, but serviceable, and his dark brown leather jacket could pass in almost any situation as far as he was concerned. Will looked back up to the quarian and shrugged.

"Yeah, why not?"

"I just wanted to be sure that we wouldn't have to return to the ship," Tul answered.

"We definitely don't have time for that," Will mentioned as he checked his omnitool clock. "Let's get moving."

The pair hurried down the block to the main entrance of Seraxis Tower and waded through the "evening" crowd that was migrating toward the entertainment and bars. After waiting for one of the packed elevators they crammed inside and proceeded slowly to the forty-first floor. Luckily, by the time they reached their destination the elevator was empty of nearly all of its passengers. Meld was an enormous, two-leveled attraction which took up an entire half of both the fortieth and forty-first floors. The forty-first floor seemed to house the restaurant while the fortieth catered to the casino. Descending staircases and balconies dotted the restaurant floor allowing guests to look down onto the casino floor from the dining tables and lounge. The décor was surprisingly dark and consisted mainly of black and dark reds, accented by white chairs and wall ornaments. Will and Tul'Sorrin composed themselves as they approached the hostess, an accommodating and friendly-looking asari woman.

"Welcome to Meld," she greeted serenely. "Do you have a reservation or are you here to visit the casino?"

Will gave her a friendly smile. "Reservation. Name's Hume, party of four."

She looked down to a screen on the hostess station and swiped through a few pages of names, her eyes darting from side to side.

"Ah, here it is." She looked up. "Would you like to be seated now, or wait for the rest of your party?"

"We can sit," Will replied with a nod.

"Of course." The asari smiled and stepped out to guide them into the restaurant. "Follow me, please."

The hostess led them through a short set of stanchions and onto the dining floor where most of the tables were filled with patrons. Will scanned the room for a table with four seats and grinned to himself as he finally caught sight of the one they were being led to. The table was right on the edge of a balcony that overlooked a large portion of the dazzling casino floor. More importantly, however, was the enormous two-story window that stretched the length of the wall of the casino to give them a breathtaking view of the Citadel wards converging on the ring of the Presidium. The hostess stepped to the side as they reached the circular table and nodded.

"Your server will be with you momentarily," she informed them in a soft tone. "If you would like to view the menus, simply activate them like so."

The asari reached toward a small, white circle near the edge of the dining table and gave it a gentle tap with her index and middle fingers. A two-sided, holographic panel appeared at the center of the circular table that the asari touched in a way to demonstrate its ability to rotate about the center of the table. She tapped the circle once again and the menu blinked away in an instant.

"Thanks," Will said, unable to think of much else.

The hostess smiled. "Enjoy your meal. And please feel free to explore the casino after you have finished dining."

Tul'Sorrin and Will seated themselves on opposite sides of the table and sat back, taking in the comfort of their seats.

"Aheh, you know, I was a little worried that they might try to turn me away," Tul admitted shamefully.

Will raised a brow. "What? Why?"

"Since our exile, quarians have fallen further and further out of favor with the galactic community." He sighed. "They see us as fools for our mistakes with the geth. Worse, they think we are nothing more than troublesome beggars who take whatever is not bolted to the ground." Tul crossed his arms and scoffed. "The sad part is, the Fleet hasn't done much to prove the galaxy wrong."

"So what are they gonna do, refuse you service?" Will shook his head. "This place is called _Meld_ and serves fusion dishes, remember? Doesn't sound like a place that would kick you out for wearing a suit or having a quad."

The quarian chuckled. "Very true. Though it wouldn't be the first time, sadly."

Will smirked and sat back as a pair of figures moving toward them caught his eye. He and Tul'Sorrin turned their heads and stared as Shansa approached, her face beaming with a smile so wide it would have been impossible to contain. Surprisingly, the first thing that Will noticed was the fact that she had let her dazzling copper hair down from its normal ponytail to hang just above her shoulders, allowing it to bounce from side to side with the same enthusiasm as her steps. She wore a simple but elegant black dress that, although rather conservatively cut, hugged her form and stopped just below her knees. Will looked back up to her face to see it in a soft hue of pink as she blushed, possibly from the simple excitement of wearing her new outfit. Will and Tul'Sorrin stood as she approached.

"Damn, Shan," Will said slowly.

"Like it?" She asked, seemingly short of breath.

"It's gorgeous," Tul'Sorrin informed her.

Shansa smiled bashfully. "Thanks... it was hard to find something that covered up the..." She motioned to the area a few inches above her right breast. "Ya know, scars."

Will stepped forward and took one of her hands in his. "You look wonderful, Shansa. Really."

As she responded with a simple smile and turned to Tul, Will's eyes wandered over her shoulder to see the final member of their party approaching. Eleena's face was hard to read at first, but as they locked eyes, it slowly grew into a sly grin. Will looked her up and down, trying not to stare. She wore a loose white shirt that, despite the relatively low cut at the bust, fluttered gently around her waist. Over it, however, was a tight, jet-black jacket clearly designed to be left open at the front. The jacket was slightly elongated, reaching down to just about the top of the back of her thighs, but remained surprisingly stiff as she walked. Her pants were as dark as the jacket and held tight against her legs. Will grinned slightly as he saw her everyday black work-boots still strapped to her feet.

"Way to make me feel like a jackass for not dressing up," Will jested as the asari came to a stop at Shansa's side.

"I couldn't let Shansa be the only one looking good tonight," Eleena countered coolly.

Shansa laughed softly. "Yeah, you say that now." She crossed her arms in objection. "It took a lot of convincing."

"Hey, I gave in pretty quickly after we left the dress section," the asari countered.

"Well as much as I'd love to continue this debate, we _do _have a table waiting to be used." Will stepped to the side and held a hand out toward the table.

Eleena and Shansa gave each other one last joking glare before smiling and taking their seats on opposite sides of the table. Will and Tul'Sorrin took up the empty chairs, also opposite from one another. Shansa wiggled from side to side as she attempted to find a comfortable position with her new dress, while Eleena sat back comfortably.

"So, can we officially count the shopping trip as a success?" Tul inquired as he set his hands on the table and laced his fingers.

"Definitely," Shansa replied as she finally found a comfortable position. "And it only took like an hour!"

Will furrowed his brow. "What did you do the rest of the time?"

"Heh heh," Eleena tilted her head up and gazed toward the ceiling as she recalled the event. "We found a used ship dealership and talked them into letting us 'test fly' one of those Kowloon-class haulers."

Tul'Sorrin remained virtually motionless until the light at the front of his mask illuminated. "You... you're kidding, right?"

Shansa gave him a look. "'Course not. And let me tell you... those things are _boring!_ There's nothing exciting about the way they perform at all."

Will laughed and straightened himself up in his chair. "It's a cargo ship! It's not like they're built for _dancing_."

"Cargo ship or not, she's right," Eleena argued. "It just looked and handled like some kinda assembly-line production."

"Because it was," Shansa added. "Made me really appreciate the _Hyperion_. I wouldn't trade her for any of those new, fancy models."

The asari smirked. "Says the one who flies. _I'm_ the one who has to deal with an archaic FTL core, an absurd engineering layout, and thrusters designed for a completely different ship."

Will grinned and sat forward. "Oh come on, you love it. You'd be bored to death if there wasn't always something to do back there."

Eleena shifted her gaze to Will and returned the grin. "True... we can't all nap in the loft for hours on end."

Shansa and Tul chuckled to themselves as Will shook his head with a smile.

"So, what did you guys do?" Shansa looked to Tul'Sorrin and Will curiously.

"Oh, nothing exciting," Tul replied. "We just saved a girl who was being attacked by five drunken, belligerent soldiers before spending four hours with C-Sec while they gathered evidence and statements."

Eleena and Shansa stared at one another, then to Will and Tul.

"Is it even possible for you to leave the ship without fighting someone?" The asari tilted her head toward Will curiously.

"If it is, it hasn't happened yet," he replied while looking around the table. "So who wants to look at the menu?"

Shansa nodded excitedly as Will reached over and tapped the white circle at his side. The holographic panel appeared at the center of the table in a blink and Will reached up to turn it just enough to give himself and Eleena a view of one side while Tul and Shansa could see the other. After spending a minute or two looking over their options, a human woman approached the table with a warm smile and greeted the guests.

"Hello, my name is Anne." She looked around the table to each of the four patrons. "I'll be helping you this evening. Have you all had enough time to look over the menu?"

Will nodded once. "A few minutes, yeah."

"Oh, yes..." The waitress paused as she looked to Tul'Sorrin. "Forgive me, sir, but we don't see many of your kind. Did you have a chance to look over the dextro-menu we offer for our turian patrons?"

The quarian chuckled softly. "That's alright, I'm here for the company, not the food. Anything on the menu probably hasn't been properly disinfected, anyway." He raised a finger. "I am interested in some of your turian liquors, though."

She nodded once. "Certainly, sir. Are you all ready to place a drink order?"

The group looked to each other and nodded in agreement.

Will cleared his throat after seeing no one was stepping up to order first. "I'll start with a glass of human wine... something red. Cabernet Sauvignon if you've got it."

"Of course," Anne replied as she tapped at the holopad in her hand. "We carry almost a dozen, would you like to chose?"

"Give me the... fourth cheapest."

"Certainly," she replied with an amused smile.

Shansa raised a brow and crossed her arms. "When did you become a wine drinker?"

Will gave her a sideways glance and shrugged. "I dunno. I when did having one glass of wine make me a 'wine drinker?'"

She shook her head and looked to Eleena. "I want some kind of asari drink!"

The asari grinned. "I saw an asari springwine made from seela fruit."

Shansa's eyes widened. "Oo! Yes, I'll have a glass of that," she declared.

The waitress nodded and made note. "A glass of Armalina."

"Make it two," Eleena added.

Anne nodded and turned to Tul'Sorrin. "And you, sir?"

Tul had been carefully inspecting the menu while the others ordered. He nodded confidently and looked up to the waitress.

"Just a glass of the Shurantia whiskey."

The waitress smiled and nodded. "I'll be back with your drinks in just a moment."

As she left, Will noticed Shansa had turned to look out the two story window that lined the wall of the casino below.

"This place never stops, huh?" The pilot stared serenely.

"The Presidium does," Eleena informed her. "Well, they have a simulated night-cycle. But out here on the wards? Nope. It never stops."

The group continued to chat as a group about the details of their day until their drinks arrived and they placed their dinner orders. Their conversation remained long and lively throughout the meal, from the time their plates arrived until the last bite was cleared nearly an hour later. After making their way through a few refills on their drinks, the group eventually decided to set a new destination. Will and Eleena had suggested taking up a seat in the nearby lounge, which overlooked the casino floor much like their table, but in a much more relaxed environment. Tul and Shansa, however, both insisted on heading down to gamble. After reaching an impasse, the group once again decided to split, leaving Shansa and Tul'Sorrin to wander down to the casino while Will and Eleena made their way to the lounge.

"How did Shansa pick a place this fucking _fancy?_" Eleena asked as she and Will walked past the lounge bar.

"She probably did it just to make you uncomfortable," Will jested.

They reached the railing of a balcony overlooking the casino below. Will and Eleena both placed their arms on the railing and leaned over slightly while looking to one another.

"Thanks for picking up the bill," the asari mentioned. "I'd have insisted against it, but this jacket was pretty damn expensive."

Will laughed softly. "Don't mention it. The captain's gotta treat his crew well."

"You do, Will," she assured him.

Eleena shifted herself closer to him and gently touched his hand with her's. Her fingers wandered over the back of his hand for a moment before turning and sliding under his palm to lace their fingers together. Will had a small smile on his lips as he kept their eyes locked. He gave her hand a soft squeeze and looked back out the window beyond the edge of the casino floor below.

"You really like the view, huh?" Eleena asked.

"Its beautiful. Probably the second best in the room," he replied as he looked back to her.

The asari narrowed her eyes as a small smirk spread across her lips. "Never gonna stop with the smooth-talking, are you?"

Will grinned and shook his head in response. They slowly turned and gazed back out the window in silence, their hands still gently entwined.

After a minute of nothing but the ambient noise of Meld between them, Will let out a small, happy sigh. "I'm glad everyone got a little time off the ship to clear their heads."

"Except the Spectres," Eleena reminded him. "Assuming, of course, that they're still at work on that lead."

"Goddamn am I ready to catch this guy and take a few weeks off," Will said with a small chuckle.

"Six months of merc work and you're already planning a break?" Eleena teased.

Will let out a sigh pulled his hand from her's. He turned to his side to face her and leaned on one arm.

"We've just always got somewhere to be. Even during downtime it's hard for me to truly relax without thinking about what's to come." He watched as she turned to face him and mirror his stance. "I just want a little time without the weight on my shoulders." Will shrugged lightly and smiled. "Maybe we actually get a little of that time... we could spend some of it together."

"I'd like that, Will." Eleena smiled sincerely. "But we can't sit around for too long... there's still so much we can do."

"You don't need to tell me." He nodded reassuringly, still smiling. "I don't plan on setting my rifle down for a long time."

The asari merely nodded and leaned forward to plant a quick peck of a kiss on his cheek. "So, wanna head down to the casino?"

Will nodded and offered an arm to escort her by. She paused, and after a long bout of deliberation, accepted the gesture by locking her arm around his in a far less than "ladylike" manner.

"First sign of Tul or Shansa, I'm letting go," she warned him.

He chuckled as they set off. "No objections here. I'm nowhere near ready for them to start rumors."

* * *

Will stood among a handful of well dressed and dignified looking strangers as the elevator car ascended from the Presidium taxi terminal he had landed at to the address Vayren and Corsin had beckoned him to. The Spectres' displeasing request to leave the others at the casino had sobered him up and put him in a slightly foul mood. After a few stops, he reached his level and stepped out of the elevator with a salarian who quickly hurried off to his destination somewhere to the right. Will headed straight and climbed a wide set of stairs before coming to a stop and looking out over a balcony to see the calm lakes and ponds that ran along the center of the Presidium. It was surprisingly green, and it appeared as though it was midday on the Citadel from the simulated daylight that illuminated the ring. He could easily see why Kallux had chosen the area for some time alone.

"Ah, you're here."

Corsin's voice called from behind him. Will glanced over his shoulder to see the two Spectres standing to the side of the stairs. He turned to face the Spectres and gave them both a look through tired eyes.

"I was just starting to have a good time in the casino," he told them regrettably.

"Sorry to have interrupted the festivities," Vayren said insincerely. "But this is urgent."

Will nodded. "I figured that out when you told me to meet you alone." His gaze shifted between the two Spectres. "So what's the situation?"

"We've got the name of the account holders," Corsin informed him. The turian turned and waved the others to follow. "And we're going to have a chat with them."

Will nodded for him to continue. "And the name?"

The Spectres looked around quickly to ensure there were no uninvited ears listening in.

"The Vol Protectorate," Vayren said quietly. "More specifically, the Protectorate's liaison to the Elkoss Combine Corporation."

"You're gonna have to explain some of that," Will remarked with a smirk.

Corsin let out a sigh and replied quietly. "The Vol Protectorate is the volus government. Elkoss Combine is a volus manufacturing company."

"Oh..." Will looked to the turian nervously. "I see."

"A volus named Finlo Til holds the accounts," Vayren explained. "His office is here on the Presidium, so we're going to pay him a visit."

Will eyed his surroundings as the Spectres led the way through the elegant Presidium. The décor around him resembled their high-class docking chamber far more than the Tayseri Ward. It was a short walk to the office complex that housed Finlo Til's office where Corsin took the lead and approached the receptionist.

"Welcome," the turian receptionist greeted from behind her desk. "What can I do for you?"

Corsin stopped before her with Will and Vayren at his side. "We're here to see Finlo Til."

The turian woman looked down to her screen and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but he doesn't have an appointment scheduled for the next two hours."

"We don't have one," Corsin informed her. "I want you to make sure no one interrupts us."

The receptionist sat up. "Excuse me, but you can't just-"

"We're here on Spectre business," Vayren interrupted her. "So yes, we can."

The woman remained silent for a moment before nodding. "I... I understand. His office is down the hall, final door on the left."

Without another word, Corsin turned and walked silently to the hallway with Vayren and Will walking at his side. As they reached the door, Vayren turned to the others and raised a finger.

"Let's be civil about this."

Corsin and Will nodded in agreement.

The turian shrugged and reached to open the door. "Well, reasonably civil."

The door hissed and slid apart to reveal a decent sized office adorned with more than a few pieces of what Will assumed was volus art. The far wall of the room was open and provided a view of the slope that sunk down into the center of the Presidium's ring. At the center was an almost comically large desk with two chairs angled out on the closer side, and a visibly surprised volus on the other. His suit was brown and accented with maroon and white lining around his face and gloves. The small, horizontal slit over his mouth blinked yellow as the uninvited guests entered.

"What... is the meaning... of this?" Finlo Til slowly gasped.

Will stood in silence just inside the doorway as Corsin shut and locked the door behind him.

"Finlo Til... we need to have a chat," Corsin informed the volus.

Til shook his head sternly. "You... will not... get my cooperation... by barging in unannounced!" He reached for a panel on the holo-screen in front of him. "Security-"

"Don't, or you and those guards will regret it dearly." Corsin spoke harshly as he crossed the room, staring the volus down.

"On whose... authority-"

"We're Spectres," the turian interrupted. "Well, two of us are. So I suggest you settle down and get ready to answer some questions."

All the while Vayren had been circling the room with his omnitool raised. The salarian was disabling the various security devices located throughout the office, including the fairly obvious camera located by the door.

"What are you doing... to my security?" The volus asked, his attitude now leaning toward fright.

"Disabling it. All of it." Corsin crossed his arms. "It's for your own safety."

Will approached the desk and stepped up beside Corsin as Vayren finished his sweep. The salarian joined his companions, presenting the volus with a third set of eyes staring him down.

Til lowered his head in defeat. "What... what do you want?"

"We need information," Vayren stated immediately.

"I... can offer... anything I know," the volus answered.

Corsin, his arms still crossed, eyed the volus closely. "What does the name Narenthus Antarian mean to you?"

Til shook his head slowly. "I've... never heard it."

The turian, human and salarian exchanged silent glances.

"You're lying," Corsin declared as he turned back to Til. "Now talk."

"I... I don't know... anyone by that name!" The volus raised his hands helplessly. "I... I swear it!"

Corsin slammed his fist down on the table, causing a picture frame and topple down to the floor. Til jumped in his seat and cowered back from the imposing turian that leaned toward him.

"Bullshit!" Corsin raised his hand and pointed a finger accusingly. "We're not leaving until we have answers, Til."

Will finally found the urge to speak and put a hand on Corsin's shoulder. "Woah, Corsin... what happened to doing this civilly? He could be telling the truth."

Corsin took a deep breath and stepped back as Vayren stepped closer and raised his omnitool. He transmitted a file to Til's computer and nodded.

"Please access the data I have sent you," the salarian requested.

Finlo Til hesitantly reached forward and opened the files. "Oh, yes. These accounts... are used by my department..."

"Yes, they are," Vayren said plainly. "We traced the activity of these accounts from data we acquired at one of the facilities belonging to Narenthus Antarian, a dangerous fugitive we're tracking."

The volus looked to the salarian hopelessly. "I told you... I have never... heard of him."

Vayren sent another file from his omnitool. "Did you authorize any payments on these dates?"

Til opened the file and sorted through the dates and times. He opened another window to bring up a spreadsheet of dates, names and expenditures and began sifting.

"Yes," he said after a minute or two of searching. "I authorized several payments... but none of them were to... anyone named Antarian."

Corsin muttered to himself and shook his head. Will, however, nodded encouragingly.

"Then who were you paying?"

Til remained quiet for a short moment. "An asari woman... named Fayneer T'lees. She operates... as a weapons dealer... in the Terminus Systems."

"Why were you dealing with a Terminus arms dealer?" Will raised a brow.

"Her organization... produces many different... items of interest." The volus waved his hands as he talked to accentuate his points. "The Protectorate... and Elkoss Combine... have a longstanding directive... to acquire any promising equipment we can find... and attempt to replicate them."

"So you steal their designs," Corsin reworded.

"That's not..." Til paused before giving a small nod. "Yes."

"I've never heard of Fayneer T'lees," Vayren pondered out loud. "But her records were in Antarian's facility. Perhaps she is a lieutenant of his?"

"It's possible," Corsin reasoned as he looked to Til. "What else do you know about her or these shipments?"

The volus shook his head. "I don't know much. The shipments... never arrived. But, I do know... that they were due to be shipped... out of a colony... on the planet Altakiril."

Corsin nodded slowly and glanced to Will and Vayren. "An independent turian colony in the Terminus Systems."

Vayren placed a hand on the desk and leaned forward. "Is there anything else you can tell us? It is incredibly important that we complete this mission."

Til nodded once. "Yes, the port... it was in a city... by the name of Pugnax. But that... is all I know."

Will could see that Corsin was ready to press for more, but Vayren nodded in affirmation and stepped back. "That will do." The salarian opened his omnitool to be sure he had recorded the entire conversation. "Unless my associates have any questions, I believe you have helped us a great deal, Finlo Til."

Will shook his head. "I've got nothin'."

Corsin reluctantly stepped back. "Same."

Vayren nodded and closed his omnitool. "Sorry about the entrance," he said to the volus. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"But if this ends up being a dead end, we'll be back," Corsin warned.

The trio turned and headed for the door as the volus sat in relief. As they exited the office and made their way back down the hall, Vayren looked to Will.

"Call your crew, Captain. We need to set a course for Altakiril."

Will let out a small sigh. "I bet they were just starting to enjoy themselves, too."

He raised his omnitool and made the call.


	16. Chapter 16

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 16**

_**MSV Hyperion, en route to Altakiril, the Shrike Abyssal**_

Will leaned against the door frame leading into the engine room with his arms crossed and chin resting on his chest. His eyes had finally given up on holding open. A few feet away, Eleena muttered softly to herself as she ran down her maintenance checklist to ensure that she had finished the last of her duties. On his opposite side, in the cargo bay, he could vaguely make out the voices of Kallux and Corsin as they discussed something about the viability of a certain heat sink modification. It had been well over eight hours since their departure from the Citadel and he was clearly feeling the effects of his exhaustion setting in. He would have to sleep soon if he was going to be rested when they reached Altakiril.

"As much as I appreciate the sweet gesture, you really don't have to stand there and fall asleep," Eleena jabbed playfully.

Will's eyelids fluttered open. "Buh, sorry..."

He looked over and watched as she looked down to her notes with a smile. The asari made one last nod of approval and flipped off her holopad before sliding it into the deep pocket on the side of her jumpsuit.

Eleena turned to face him and smirked. "I know this may sound crazy, but if you're tired you do know that you can... ya know, sleep."

"I will soon, trust me," he stepped out of the doorway.

"Good. I was gonna jump in bed soon as well," the asari mentioned as she stepped past him and into the cargo bay.

"Think I'm gonna head around and see what the rest of the crew is up to," Will said offhandedly. "Wanna join?"

Eleena shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Will looked to the armory to see that Corsin had disappeared, leaving Kallux alone at his workbench. Will motioned for Eleena to follow him and walked across the cargo bay to where the krogan stood. Kallux heard the footsteps coming and turned to greet them with a smile.

"Found a partner to make the rounds with, I see," the krogan mused.

"Hey, I've finished my work," Eleena informed him. "I just want to see what goes on when Will wanders the ship to chat with everyone."

Will grinned lightly. "Pretty much just that." He nodded to Kallux. "How was the R and R?"

"Good. Therapeutic, I suppose. It gave me the perspective I was hoping for." The krogan gave them a calm smile.

Eleena cocked a brow. "Perspective on what, exactly?"

Kallux drew a deep breath. "Everything, to be completely honest. My place in the galaxy, what I've been doing for the past few centuries." He paused. "What I've been doing with you and the rest of the crew."

Will gave him a puzzled look. "Did you come to any realizations or conclusions?"

He nodded. "A few. But I'm not sure what they mean yet or what to do about them."

"You're not gonna jump ship, are you?" Eleena narrowed her eyes jokingly.

"Of course not," Kallux replied with a small laugh. "I'm focused on seeing this mission through, nothing more. Once Antarian is in cuffs, then I'll start looking for answers."

Will smiled warmly. "If you need help finding them, you can always count on me."

Eleena nodded. "Me too, softie."

The krogan smiled and shook his head at Eleena's teasing. "Thank you. It means a lot to know that I have friends as considerate as you two."

"I'm sure you can count Tul and Shan as well," Will reminded him. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to work."

Kallux nodded. "Ah yes, don't let me keep you from your wanderings."

Kallux's eyes darted between Will and Eleena quickly. Will could have sworn that the corner of the krogan's mouth curled slightly into a grin as he turned back to his workbench. Will and Eleena gave each other a quick look, then shook their heads dismissively and headed toward the forward hall. Will looked into the crew's quarters as they approached the doorway to see Vayren sitting at Tul's workstation and Corsin standing behind him. He stepped into the room with Eleena at his side.

"I assume Tul gave you two permission to use that," Will mentioned as he approached them.

Vayren nodded, focusing on the screens. "Yes, of course."

"Vayren made an interesting find," the turian informed them. "He's been looking for information on this asari, Fayneer T'lees, since we left the Citadel."

"You've found something?" Will looked to the salarian hopefully.

Vayren smiled and nodded. "Yes."

The Spectre brought up a window on the large, central screen with a long list of bullet points and an image that resembled a mugshot in the upper left-hand corner. The asari in the image had a straight, difficult to read expression. The skin of her face was as vivid teal that faded into a deep blue around the base of her scalp. Her eyes were a piercing, icy blue that stared unnervingly back at Will as he examined her. She was devoid of nearly all facial markings except for a few off-colored spots on the highest points of her cheeks, which created the illusion of freckles. After studying her picture carefully, Will looked to the long list of notes beside her name.

"So we've got a picture. Anything else useful?" Will inquired.

"Yes. Unbelievably so," Vayren answered. "T'lees is wanted by the asari government for selling illegal arms in the asari homeworlds. Apparently she operated there for decades before moving to the Terminus Systems a few years ago."

Eleena crossed her arms. "I don't know if I'd call that _unbelievably _useful."

"We haven't told you the best part," Corsin rebutted. "The asari government dispatched a squad of commandos to bring her in a few months ago. Apparently information of her whereabouts surfaced right around the time Antarian was stripped of his Spectre status."

"Can't be a coincidence," Will mentioned.

"My thoughts exactly." Vayren scrolled through the list of information. "And just as I hoped, the asari team last checked in on Altakiril. If they are resonable, these commandos will be willing to help us track her down."

Eleena smirked. "Assuming they haven't already."

"I never hoped for another species' military to be incompetent before this job," Corsin joked with a sigh.

Will stepped back and stretched his shoulders with a deep yawn. "I think it's time I got some sleep. According to Shansa's estimates we're probably about seven hours out from Altakiril."

The Spectres had already returned to their investigating and seemed not to hear the captain's declaration.

"I'll probably head to bed in a few," Eleena remarked. "But first, I've got a little reading to finish up."

She and Will exchanged small smiles as he turned to head for the bunkroom.

* * *

The decelerating _Hyperion's _thrusters roared under Shansa's deft hand. Will gazed through the forward viewport from his normal spot in the cockpit doorway, his eyes lost in the white and gray torrent of snow and ice. Altakiril's surface temperature was far below freezing almost everywhere, yet somehow a group of determined turians had established a thriving colony on its surface. According to information Vayren was able to pull from the asari battlenet, the commandos they would attempt to find were currently in Pugnax, the second largest city on the planet. Knowing that Finlo Til's weapon shipments were due to leave from the same port gave Will and the rest of the crew immense confidence.

Shansa looked over her shoulder. "According to the flight control officer, the temperature outside is negative twenty-two degrees Celsius."

Will shivered involuntarily. "Lovely."

Thankfully, he had already ordered the shore party to equip their hardsuits to counter the harsh conditions. After agreeing that they would attempt to draw as little attention to themselves as possible, Will and the Spectres decided that a small squad would be preferable for their excursion. Will, Eleena, Kallux and Corsin would scout out the city and search for information on the commandos' whereabouts while the others remained on the ship, ready to reinforce them at a moment's notice. More importantly, Vayren and Tul'Sorrin would begin the process of tunneling into the city's security and automation network as soon as they landed. After a few moments of silence, the flight control officer's voice emitted from the communications panel.

"_Hangar doors are opening, _Hyperion._ Continue on your approach."_

Through the storm Will could see a collection of red lights glowing dimly, but growing stronger with each passing second. He was able to make out the shape of an enormous rectangle that was slowly growing in width. Will soon realized that he was looking at a retractable ceiling that functioned as the hangar doors for one of the many berths in the Pugnax spaceport. Minutes after their long, steady descent began, the _Hyperion_ slid through the opened doors and gave a gentle shake as it settled to the floor of the hangar. The tip of the doors visible at the front of the ship began closing almost the exact moment they touched down, clearly to minimize the amount of snow and ice that was gusting in.

"Nice landing," Will complimented.

Shansa had already begun working on the post-flight checklist. "I'm just glad the viewport didn't freeze over."

Will smirked and raised his omnitool to activate the ship-wide comms. "We're on the ground. The shore party is moving out."

He turned to see Corsin, Kallux and Eleena already waiting by the airlock in their full gear, minus their helmets. Eleena reached forward and opened the inner airlock door.

"How's it look?" Kallux asked.

Will grinned and stepped into the decontamination chamber. "Cold."

"Good. Sounds like we made it to the right planet," Corsin joked as he and the others stepped in behind Will.

After skipping the decontamination sequence, the outer airlock slid apart to reveal the cavernous hangar they had landed in. Will jumped the short drop to the ground and chuckled to himself.

"I don't know if I've ever been in an enclosed hangar this big."

"Makes sense," Kallux reasoned. "They probably see a lot of cargo ships our size that need to be able to load and unload in reasonable conditions."

Directly ahead of where they had exited was one of two doors in the hangar. The other was straight ahead of the nose of the ship and was large enough to allow large cargo through. Will looked to the smaller door to see a sign reading, "Port Authority." With seemingly nowhere else to go, he led the group to the door and stepped through as it opened automatically. After a short walk through a surprisingly well-lit hallway, another door deposited them into what looked like an airlock. On one wall was a door and on the opposite, a large viewscreen. They stepped into the room and looked around curiously as the next door did not open. Just before Will could open his mouth to question the circumstance, the screen flickered to life and the image of a turian seated in a control room appeared.

"_Good day, welcome to Hub One. Is your captain, or person elected to speak on his or her behalf, present?"_

Will faced the screen and nodded. "That's me. Captain William Hume."

The turian looked to the side and nodded. _"I see this is your first visit to Altakiril. Please state your business."_

"Repairs," Will lied confidently. "We've got all the parts we need, so there won't be any importing or exporting. Just wanted a safe berth for getting the work done." He pointed over his shoulder to the turian, krogan and asari behind him. "We just wanted to get out and find a bar while my engineers and technicians take care of the repairs."

The port officer nodded. _"Understood. The account number you provided upon requesting a hangar will be charged the standard daily fee of 6,000 credits. This will cover your stay for the next galactic standard day." _The turian paused and looked them over. _"I see you are carrying weapons."_

Will nodded. "That's right. Is that going to be a problem?"

"_If they're used for anything other than self-defense, our security force will not hesitate to use any means to subdue you." _The officer looked over the group slowly.

"That won't be a problem," Will assured him.

"_Good. The next door is an elevator that will take you to the Commons. I've already sent you the security clearance that will allow you to use the elevator to come back up at your convenience."_ The turian glanced up to them. _"As you might have noticed, the storm is rather intense at the moment. I'd suggest hailing a taxi if you need to travel to another Hub."_

The door that had remained locked upon their entrance slid apart as the docking officer's image disappeared from the screen. The squad stepped into the elevator and waited as the doors closed and they began to descend to the only other floor labeled on the control panel.

Will glanced to Corsin. "So what are the 'Commons?'"

The turian had taken it upon himself to research the colony extensively during their trip.

Corsin nodded as he began to explain. "Due to the harsh climate, most of the large cities on Altakiril are comprised of entirely self-sufficient superstructures or 'Hubs.' Most of the colonists live and work in the same building, so they all have pretty much anything they'd need to keep someone happy. The top floors are where the industry takes place. In the case of this Hub, they operate the city's spaceport. The middle levels are for the commercial enterprises such as shopping and leisure and all that. And, as I'm sure you've deduced, the lower floors are where the housing is located. My guess is that the middle floors are referred to by the locals as the 'Commons.'"

As he finished, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. The group stepped out into a short hallway and after a short walk, passed through a final set of doors and into the Commons. As Will scanned the two-story room he was instantly reminded of the market district of Omega, only much cleaner. If there were multiple floors of the Commons, this one was almost certainly the shopping center. He could see dozens of stalls from where they stood, all ranging in size from a few square meters to larger than the _Hyperion's _cargo bay.

"Here's a map," Kallux mentioned.

Will, Corsin and Eleena all turned to see the krogan was looking at a viewscreen on the wall beside the doorway they had entered from. As they gathered around, Will stepped up and began navigating the map program.

"Looks like there are four levels of the Commons," Will noted.

He zoomed out to a view of the city to see that there were eight other Hubs clustered together with their current location right at the center of them. A few smaller structures surrounded the superstructures as well, but little information was offered about them.

Eleena glanced over to Corsin. "Did we have any luck locating the commandos?"

"According to the asari military, they went dark a few days ago," the turian answered.

"Do we have their last known location?" Kallux inquired hopefully.

Corsin nodded and pulled up his omnitool as he began searching for the information. "I've got the coordinates of their last transmission, but that's it."

"Better than nothing," Will mentioned as he continued to eye the map.

The turian's omnitool quickly became the new object of the squad's attention as he retrieved the coordinates.

"It looks like they were transmitted from about a kilometer and a half north of our location," Corsin stated.

Will turned to the map and nodded. "There's only one Hub due north."

"Sounds like we've got somewhere to start looking," Kallux grinned.

The squad found the nearest taxi station and soon found themselves at the mercy of the autopilot and its ability to navigate through the storm with near zero visibility. After a tense three minute flight, the taxi zipped through a hangar door and into the closest station of Hub Six. The interior of the new superstructure looked almost identical to that of Hub One, to the point where Will was almost suspicious that they had not left.

"For some reason I was way more excited about knowing where to look a few minutes ago," Will commented as they entered the Commons of the new Hub.

Eleena smirked. "Was that before you remembered that we still have an entire building to search?"

"We should find a bar," Kallux suggested. "Always lots of wide eyes and loose lips there."

"Good idea," Corsin commended as the group approach a wall-mounted directory. He reached up and applied the appropriate filters to the map. "Hmm, looks like there are three in the Commons."

Will nodded. "Let's pick the closest and start there."

"Here," Eleena said as she pointed to a highlighted shape.

After quickly getting his bearings, Will nodded and turned to the right with the others following at his side. According to the directory, the bar was located about a hundred meters away on their left-hand side.

"Act as casually as possible," Corsin instructed as they approached the door. "Avoid asking about T'lees and Antarian. Our priority right now is finding the commandos."

Kallux came to a stop, causing the others to halt and turn to him as well. "If we're going to be looking around for conversation, we should avoid entering as a group."

Eleena nodded in agreement. "He's got a point. The four of us might look a little suspicious."

"Alright, we'll stagger our entrances," Corsin instructed.

Will nodded. "I'll head in first."

"I'll join you," Kallux added. "A lone krogan wandering a turian colony might strike them as strange. The two of us can just say we're from the same cargo ship."

"Sounds good." Will stepped up to the doorway with Kallux at his side. "You two might want to step away," he said to the others.

Corsin and Eleena stepped to the side and out of sight of the doorway as Will walked through. Of the roughly fifteen patrons, all but two were turians. He wasn't surprised, given the fact that Altakiril was a turian colony, but his worry about their chances of getting any information sank in immediately. Corsin would probably be welcomed, Eleena as well, but he and Kallux might have a harder time finding conversation. The two non-turians were an asari and a human, the former sitting at a table with a turian and the latter at the bar, alone. A couple of the turian customers glanced up and stared for a moment at the new visitors with disapproving eyes, but eventually turned their attention back to their drinks. A soft and soothing electronic song played in the background, leaving Will confident that he would be able to speak without being overheard.

"Let's start with the human," he muttered quietly to Kallux.

The krogan nodded in agreement as they crossed the poorly-lit room to the bar stool where the man sat. He was in his early forties at the youngest, his hair an unfortunate mix of brown and white. A full, but well groomed, beard covered most of his face. His clothes were surprisingly bland and utilitarian, suggesting that they might be the clothes worn in a manufactory located somewhere on the Hub. The man's dark brown eyes flicked to the side as Will and Kallux approached before returning to the half-full glass of liquor that sat on the bar in front of him.

"What's the beer selection like?" Will asked casually as he slid onto the seat beside the stranger.

"Two non-dextros," the man replied in an accent derivative of Eastern Europe back on Earth. "Light and dark."

"That's it?" Kallux asked as he jumped up onto the seat next to Will.

The man eyed Kallux curiously for a moment. "Biggest selection on Six."

The turian bartender stood at the end of the bar with his arms crossed, watching the newcomers. Will raised a hand to grab his attention.

"I'll take a beer that I can drink," Will said to the turian as he approached. "Dark, I guess."

Without a word, the bartender retrieved a bottle containing a dark liquid and set it on the bar in front of Will. He reached forward and unscrewed the top, letting a hiss escape from the cold beer.

"You?" The turian said flatly to Kallux.

The krogan shook his head. "Nothing for me."

The bartender turned and headed down to the opposite end of the bar where a turian patron was waving for his attention. Will took a sip of his beer and let out a disappointed sigh. It couldn't have tasted more bland.

He turned his attention back to the stranger beside him. "Name's Will," he said with a nod.

"Sergei," the man replied before downing another sip of his own drink. "You're from off-world, yes?"

Will smirked. "That obvious?"

"Humans are rare enough here," Sergei reasoned, his voice slow and deliberate. "But krogan? Never see krogan."

"Well, you're right," Will admitted. "We just arrived a little while ago. Our ship is having some repairs done."

The man raised one of his thick brows. "The spaceport is on One."

"Wanted to take a look around," Kallux quickly interjected. "See what this colony is all about."

Sergei remained silent and looked them over. After a long moment he turned back to his drink and took a sip.

"Factories and ice," he said plainly. "Hope you were not expecting more."

Out of the corner of his eye, Will spotted Corsin entering the bar. The turian paid no attention at all to Will and Kallux, instead making his way toward a table near the back of the room occupied by a single female turian who was looking down at a holopad.

"Factories, eh?" Kallux leaned onto the bar as he looked past Will to Sergei. "What kind?"

"Depends on which Hub you are on," he answered. "Two and Four have refineries for raw material mined nearby. Six has a few of different factories."

Will took another sip of his beer. "Do you work here on Hub Six?"

"Yes." Sergei nodded. "Largest plant on the Hub. We make armor plating for starships."

"Sounds like there's a lot of heavy industry," Kallux mentioned, hoping Sergei would continue.

"Most industry in Pugnax is heavy." The man finished the last of his liquor and let out a sigh. "I must leave. My shift begins soon."

Will acted cool and turned his attention back to his drink as the man rose from his bar stool and wandered to the exit. Kallux looked to Will and nodded, speaking softly.

"Loose lips," he noted.

"But nothing terribly useful from them," Will countered as he took another small sip of his drink.

Eleena entered just as Sergei walked out the door and headed for one of the empty tables. She sat herself and began looking over something on her holopad. Will and Kallux sat at the bar, talking quietly about nothing in particular to pass the time and appear as inconspicuous as possible. A few minutes after Eleena had entered, Will spotted a turian approach her and make motions toward the unused chair at her table. Will did his best to watch from his peripheral as she shrugged and nodded, after which the turian slid into the chair and leaned to the side casually. As they talked, Will turned to his other side to see that Corsin was still chatting with the patron he had singled out upon entering.

"Seems surprisingly social here," Will noted under his breath.

Kallux nodded. "They might not get the chance to talk to many travelers from off-world."

After three hours of sitting at the bar, Will and Kallux had only managed to strike up conversation with a two other people. Both proved to be far less chatty than their first find, but from what Will could see, Eleena and Corsin were having much better luck. Corsin's first contact had left after an hour or two, but he soon found himself at a table of three other turians, laughing and sharing their war stories. Eleena was still sitting with the turian who had approached her, though it was obvious that he was doing most of the talking. Finally, after a good thirty minutes of no new patrons entering the bar, Will nodded to Kallux and they agreed that it was time to leave. As Will paid the tab, Kallux opened his omnitool and sent a quick message to the others.

"I hope they got more than us," Will mentioned to Kallux as they walked through the door and into the Commons once again.

"If all else fails, Agent Vayren and Tul'Sorrin are working on hacking into the city's security network," Kallux reminded Will as they walked about halfway down the block and leaned against the wall. "Might take a while, but we'll find them."

Will crossed his arms with a nod. "I just want to find them in time."

There was a moment of silence as they stood side by side. Eventually, Kallux glanced to Will with a small grin.

"I heard you all went to dinner while we were on the Citadel."

"Heh, heard about that, huh?" Will raised a brow.

"I asked Shansa about the dress when she, Eleena and Tul'Sorrin stumbled back onto the ship." Kallux chuckled lightly. "Sounds like you all had a good time."

Will looked to the krogan nervously. "I would have invited you-"

Kallux shook his head and held up a hand. "I would've passed on the invitation. Don't worry."

"If you say so." Will turned back to stare into the line of stalls a few dozen feet away. "It was a fusion restaurant called Meld. It was pretty good. No krogan inspired cuisine, surprisingly." He gave the krogan a joking grin.

"Your stomach probably couldn't handle it," Kallux countered with a laugh.

Eleena's voice called from the side as she approached. "Couldn't handle what, exactly?"

Will looked to her with a smile as she approached. "Apparently Kallux thinks we couldn't keep krogan food down."

"He's probably right," the asari admitted. "I've tried some before." Eleena's face turned sour and she shook her head. "Uggh.."

He laughed lightly and looked over her shoulder as Corsin sauntered out of the bar, still looking back and laughing with whoever he had been sitting with. The turian's attitude changed the moment the door slid shut. He turned on his heel and hurried toward the group with a straight face, nodding to them and motioning for them to walk at his side. They formed up around him and began the walk along the hallway.

"Please tell me someone got some useful intel," Corsin groaned.

"I wish. Guessing you didn't?" Will inquired with a hint of defeat.

The turian shook his head. "Nothing."

Eleena grinned and gave them a sideways glance. "I did."

They turned to the asari in surprise and Will nodded for her to continue.

"That guy who came up to me liked to talk," Eleena explained. "It took a bit of flirting to get him to say it, but apparently he likes asari."

"A given," Corsin joked.

She smirked. "Turns out, he's been seeing more and more asari lately on the Hub, but they've all been quiet and not terribly friendly."

Kallux grinned. "And where do we find these seclusive asari?"

"That's the best part," she continued. "He's a technician here on Hub Six. He told me he keeps seeing them wander around by the maintenance tunnels on level eighteen, which is currently under renovation."

"That gives us a better idea of where to look," Will chuckled. "As opposed to the entire goddamn superstructure."

Corsin had already pulled up his omnitool and was browsing the Hub's map. "The elevator up here to our right can take us to level eighteen," he informed them. "According to the directory, everything fifteen and up is industrial."

Will nodded and took point at the front of the group as they marched confidently toward the public elevator. A half-dozen others were already waiting by the door as they arrived. Fortunately, they did not seem nearly as interested in the squad as the bar patrons. The car arrived after a short wait and the waiting crowd quickly filed in. Corsin reached forward and entered their destination and after a few stops the the doors opened to level eighteen of the industrial section. Will, Corsin, Eleena and Kallux stepped out casually and turned to the right at the Spectre's direction.

"Up here and to the left," Corsin said quietly. "It looks like an accessway."

Will nodded and quickly glanced behind him to ensure they no one was eying their presence. Luckily, the floor seemed very quiet, if not deserted. They entered a long hallway with only two doors on one side. As they approached, Will could see that one had a sign reading "Maintenance Access" above it. The group stopped in front of the door and looked around curiously.

"No asari," Kallux stated flatly.

"Quite the observation," Will jabbed as he nodded toward the door. "Should we see what it is they've been sneaking around here for?"

Corsin did not answer, but instead raised his omnitool and began initializing his shunt program. After a minute of work, he shook his head in defeat.

"Nothing I can do," he muttered. "In hindsight, we probably should have brought one of the tech experts."

"It might be part of the Hub's security network," Eleena suggested.

"True," Will raised his omnitool to open a comm link with the ship. "I'll see if Vayren and Tul have gotten into the city's network yet."

He waited patiently until the glowing orange light that indicated his call status turned green.

"_This is Tul'Sorrin."_

"Just who I wanted to speak with," Will began. "Any progress on getting into the city's security?"

"_As a matter of fact, yes,"_ the quarian answered happily. _"Just a few minutes ago, actually. We were about to do a sweep of the security cameras."_

"Actually, I've got a request, if you can handle it."

"_Sure thing, Captain."_

Will looked to the locked door as he spoke. "We've got a security door that we need to get through. Think you can help us out?"

"_I'll see what I can do."_ There was brief pause. _"Would you scan the security panel for me?"_

Will stepped up to the maintenance door and held up his omnitool as Tul'Sorrin drew his information. The rest of the squad continued to watch their backs by scanning either direction of the hallway.

"_This is... interesting,"_ Tul muttered. _"The door is listed on the security network, but I can't locate any of its functions. It appears to have been locked down locally."_

Corsin let out a disgruntled sigh. "Damn it."

"Alright," Will nodded and lowered his omnitool. "Thanks anyway, Tul. We'll see what we can do."

"_Understood."_

Eleena, still watching the entrance of the hall, glanced over her shoulder. "Where to?"

"This area looked symmetrical around the elevator." Corsin stepped past her to lead them back to where they had come from. "Let's see if there's another maintenance door on the other side."

The squad walked back to the elevator swiftly and silently. Will glanced over his shoulder as the group headed toward a hallway that mirrored the one they had just checked. He saw nothing, but couldn't help feeling as though they could only snoop around for so long before being noticed. As they entered the hall, a maintenance door was there to greet them just as Corsin had predicted. The lights that lined the high ceiling were dim up to the halfway point where the door was located, then became pitch black. Will stepped ahead and raised his omnitool to the control console.

"Tul, you there? I'm at another door."

"_Ready when you are,"_ the quarian replied.

Will initiated the scan and watched as Corsin stood at his side, eying the data on Will's omnitool. Kallux and Eleena were leaning with their backs to the wall when the krogan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up.

"Did anyone hear that?" Kallux looked around the group.

Will and Corsin were concentrating on the door and did not answer immediately. Eleena glanced over and raised a brow.

"Hear what?"

"_It's no good, Captain," _Tul interrupted. _"This one is locked locally, just like the other."_

Corsin shook his head. "Are you sure it's not just part of the city's security architecture?"

"_Positive. I tried on a few doors and vents at various other locations. I had access to all of their functions."_

Will let out a sigh and retracted his omnitool, only to freeze in place as an unfamiliar voice echoed from the dark end of the hall.

"Do not move," the loud, feminine voice ordered. "You have four guns on you. Raise your hands, now."

Out of the corner of his eye, Will could see two figures dressed in black military fatigues step into the hallway from the direction the _Hyperion_ squad had entered from. He and the rest of the squad slowly raised their hands as Corsin turned to face the shadows.

"Ah, finally, we've been looking for you."

"Shut it," The voice responded, clearly closer now.

Out of the darkness a pair of asari in matching black commando uniforms appeared, both holding their assault rifles at the _Hyperion_ squad. The commando that was speaking was a dark purple with no discernible facial markings, while her partner was a pale blue with purple, wispy strokes of color surrounding her eyes. From the opposite end of the hall, two more asari were approaching in the same fashion.

Corsin narrowed his eyes irritably. "I'd appreciate it if you listened. I'm a Spectre and I'm here because we're looking for the same people."

"A Spectre?" The commando leader lowered her rifle cautiously. "You got any proof?"

As the leader spoke, the pale blue asari's determined and focused expression had slackened in surprise. "Eleena?" The commando lowered her rifle and a small smile appeared on her face.

Eleena, who had been looking toward the group's flank, turned her head to see the asari who called her name. The engineer lowered her hands and took a step toward the commando.

"Zaera. Damn, it's been a long time."


	17. Chapter 17

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 17**

_**Hub 6, City of Pugnax, Altakiril**_

"Lieutenant!"

The commando leader barked and Zaera immediately whipped her rifle back up to hold it on the _Hyperion_ squad. The pale blue asari frowned and mouthed the word, "Sorry," to Eleena. The engineer rolled her eyes and held up her hands again.

"Alright, let's see it," the commando leader requested.

Corsin stepped forward with his omnitool activated and presented his Spectre credentials. The dark purple asari read them over carefully and gave the turian a long, silent stare.

"Weapons down," she finally said.

The three other asari soldiers lowered their weapons, but remained obediently in place as their leader stowed her weapon and presented a hand to Corsin. The turian grasped it and shook professionally.

"I apologize for the harsh welcome, but we can't be too careful," the purple asari informed him regrettably. "Captain Lintarith."

The turian nodded understandingly. "Corsin Rentarius, Special Tactics and Recon."

Lintarith motioned over his shoulder. "And them?"

Will, Kallux and Eleena had lowered their hands and were waiting patiently to be acknowledged.

"My squad," he answered truthfully.

The commando captain looked back to the pale blue asari. "Lieutenant Zaera, you know these people?"

Zaera stepped up and shook her head. "Only one of them, ma'am."

"Hm." Lintarith looked Corsin up and down curiously. "You said you were looking for us?"

Corsin crossed his arms. "That's right. We're after Fayneer T'lees."

The commando captain nodded. "Come with me." She raised a finger above her head and made a pointing motion while addressing her soldiers. "We're moving."

Will muttered to Kallux and Eleena. "I guess we're just coming along for the Spectre-Commando ride?"

"We didn't get shot, that's enough for me," Kallux mused.

Lintarith activated her omnitool flashlight and turned to lead the group down the dark half of the hallway with Corsin at her side. After the first few steps, Lieutenant Zaera looked over her shoulder and slowed her pace to allow the _Hyperion_ squad to catch up with her. Eleena gave a quick glance to Will and Kallux and motioned toward the commando, which was met with encouraging nods. She stepped up beside Zaera and was met with an excited smile.

"Eleena!" Zaera's voice was hushed, but ecstatic. "It's wonderful to see you! What's it been, seventy-five years?"

"Something like that," the engineer replied.

Will and Kallux remained silent and casually listened in on the conversation, both incredibly curious. Ahead of them, Lintarith and Corsin turned the group to the left at a divergence in the hallway.

Zaera flipped on the safety on her rifle. "How have you been?"

"Well, you know... I've had my ups and downs." Eleena gave her a small smile.

The commando chuckled softly. "You must be doing well for yourself if you're working with a _Spectre._" Her voice sunk to nearly a whisper. "He's _handsome_ too... or maybe it's just my inner soldier that loves the rugged veteran look."

"Aheh," Eleena looked back to Will in amusement. "Yeah, that's definitely a bonus. But how have you been, _Lieutenant _Zaera?"

"Since I last saw you? Mostly deployment, really." Zaera smiled proudly. "I was offered a spot in the officer academy in 2167. Just graduated about six months ago."

"Congratulations, Z." Eleena's tone was quite sincere. "You must have some crazy stories."

"Not many I can talk about," the commando answered with a grin. "I wish you could have been there for them."

Eleena remained silent for a few seconds. Before she could respond, Lintarith halted the group at a door and held her light on the control panel. She reached forward and activated the controls to bring up a holographic panel that appeared different from the standard one Will had seen on the Hub. After entering a series of numbers and hand motions, the door slid apart. The commando captain stood aside and waved the others inside. Will stepped into what looked like a small office that had been emptied some time ago so that crates and packs of combat supplies could line the walls. Four cots were set up in the corner of the room, each lined up against the wall in parallel. After everyone had entered, Lintarith closed the door behind them and turned to face the newcomers.

"So, the Council is after T'lees," she said while stowing her rifle.

Corsin shook his head. "Not quite. We're after someone else, but T'lees has become a person of interest in our investigation. We'd like to find and question her."

Lintarith narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Then it appears our goals coincide."

Will cleared his throat. "Might I ask why you all dropped out of contact a few days ago? We probably could have met under much friendly circumstances if we'd been able to get in touch with you."

The captain eyed Will for a moment before turning to Corsin. "Who is this?"

"Captain William Hume," Corsin answered. "He leads the team my partner and I are working with for this mission."

Lintarith's eyes wandered between Will, Eleena and Kallux. "Mercenaries?"

Will looked to his companions and smirked. "We might as well start going by that name considering how often it's suggested."

"Hm." The commando captain seemed unamused. "To answer your question, we found that our signals were being traced by the city's security. For all we know, they are being paid off by T'lees and could have alerted her to our presence."

Kallux crossed his arms. "Your first assumption was that the security is corrupt?"

"We have no evidence of corruption," Lintarith stated. "But we are not taking any chances on this mission."

"This doesn't matter now," Corsin interjected. "Our mission is urgent. Have you found T'lees?"

Will glanced around the room quickly. The three other commandos were standing silently at ease and with their eyes locked on him and his squad. He looked back to the captain and tried his best to quell his discomfort.

Lintarith gave him a cocky smile. "Yes. We've been monitoring her daily rituals and habits for the past few weeks, waiting for the right time to strike. Unfortunately, she spends most of her time in one location, making it difficult to predict when she might leave the facility for an ambush."

Eleena raised a brow. "Is she dangerous?"

"Records indicate that she is a powerful biotic, and she is almost always accompanied by bodyguards." Lintarith shook her head. "It also appears as though she has been here for many months and she has most likely planned numerous escape routes, just in case someone attempts to apprehend her."

"So where do we stand?" Corsin tilted his head slightly.

Lintarith beckoned them over to a table and activated a holographic map that covered three floors of the building. "These are the blueprints of the building that Lieutenant Zaera was able to steal from the city's internal network. My team has already finished planning our attack, we've just been waiting on the right moment to unleash it. If you plan to aid us, the additional strength of you and your team would be much appreciated."

The Spectre looked to Will, Kallux and Eleena and were met with nods of agreement. "If you allow us to interrogate her first, then absolutely."

"Excellent." Lintarith glanced to her commandos. "Circle up, we may have to modify the plan." She looked back to the others. "I'll run down everything we have and make changes as necessary."

Corsin nodded. "Sounds good."

She pointed to the middle floor on the hologram. "This level houses the manufactory that T'lees oversees and manages. Over the past few weeks, we've been secretly locking down all of the rarely used entrances and exits, such as those two maintenance accessways you were tampering with. Our plan was to leave only a handful of ways in and out of the factory and strike from there."

"I'm guessing you haven't sealed off the main entrance," Will remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

Lintarith nodded. "That's correct. We were going to split into two pairs, one assaulting from the main entrance and the other from maintenance tunnels above the facility."

"A head-on assault?" Corsin shook his head in disagreement. "Too risky. Might I pose an alternative?"

The commando gave him an irritated look. "By all means." She did not appear to appreciate Corsin's disapproval of her tactics.

The Spectre waved his hand across the map of the factory. "There are a lot of small rooms near the entrance, one of them probably handles security. I suggest we infiltrate and send the entire facility into lockdown, leaving T'lees no chance to escape."

"They won't just let us walk into the security center," Lintarith argued.

"No, they won't. But we're not going to ask for permission," Corsin replied. "We can send our team's infiltration experts to find the security using stealth generators while the rest of us get into position and lay low in those maintenance tunnels you mentioned. Then, once we're ready, they can activate the lockdown while we sweep the facility."

Lintarith crossed her arms and stared at the map. "How good are these 'infiltration experts' of yours?"

"The best," Will answered confidently.

She nodded. "Alright. You and your team can move in from the lower tunnels while I lead my squad in through the upper."

"Excellent." Corsin motioned to the sidearm on his belt. "All we've got on us are pistols. We'll need to retrieve the rest of our equipment from our ship."

"And the infiltration experts," Eleena reminded him with a grin.

The turian chuckled. "That too. Captain Lintarith, when do you suggest we make our assault?"

The asari commando narrowed her eyes as she thought. "As I mentioned, T'lees rarely leaves this facility. My suggestion would be whenever we are ready."

Corsin looked to Will. "Any objections to the plan?"

He shook his head. "None. Let's go get some guns."

* * *

The next few hours were spent in a state of rapid preparation. After retrieving Tul'Sorrin and Vayren, explaining to them the situation, loading up their combat gear, analyzing the maps and committing important locations to memory and syncing the commando and _Hyperion_ squad's comm systems, Will was beginning to feel tired. The group checked and rechecked their equipment and the plan before diverging from the hideout and making way to their respective positions. Will, Corsin, Kallux and Eleena headed to the first maintenance door they had attempted to open, this time with a special security shunt provided by Lieutenant Zaera, and waited patiently to hear from the other teams. After about ten minutes, Captain Lintarith finally reported in.

"_We're entering the tunnels above the facility now,"_ she informed them.

Corsin applied the shunt and opened the maintenance door. "Let's move."

Will stepped through with this rifle at the ready and flashlight shining brightly. The tunnel was small, but he had memorized the path that would take them to their point of access to the facility. Once the others had stepped inside, Corsin closed the door behind them and nodded.

"Lead the way, Hume."

"Twenty feet ahead, then left," Will repeated aloud. He nodded as they approached the first turn and rounded the corner. "Alright, thirty more feet, then right."

"How long do you think it'll take Vayren and Tul to find the security center?" Eleena asked to no one in particular.

"If we're lucky?" Corsin paused. "Five minutes."

Kallux chuckled. "I hope we're lucky."

Will turned right, as the map had instructed, and shone his light on the wall as they continued forward. About thirty seconds later he grinned and pointed. "There it is."

A ladder ascended to a hatch in the ceiling. If the blueprints were correct, the hatch would open into a storage room near the back of the facility and allow them an easy entrance.

"This is Will, we're in position."

Vayren answered. _"Affirmative, Captain. Tul'Sorrin and I are waiting near the entrance. We will begin our infiltration as soon as the commandos report in."_

A few second later they were met with Captain Lintarith's voice. _"We're at our position,"_ she informed them. _"Ready to enter the facility on Agent Vayren's signal."_

"_Understood. We are activating our stealth generators and going dark." _There was a bit of static from Vayren's signal. _"Standby."_

Will gripped his rifle and took a deep breath. "Now we wait."

"I hate this part," Corsin muttered.

"You and me both," Eleena added as she tapped her foot on the floor.

Will stowed his weapon and leaned his back against the wall, looking to Eleena. This was the first time in over four hours that they did not have a pressing matter to attend to. Kallux, however, spoke before he could.

"So, Eleena." Will could see the asari look up as the krogan spoke. She already knew what he was going to ask. "This commando, Zaera..."

The asari let out a sigh and smirked. "I was just waiting for you or Will to ask."

"Well, Kallux beat me to it," Will quipped.

Eleena shook her head. "She's just an old friend." She took a deep breath. "We were in the same unit during basic training..."

The group was frozen in silence for a few moments before Corsin finally spoke. "Basic training?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on sharing this with you all, but yeah. I was... a commando candidate for a few years." She glanced around the group nervously.

"You..." Will shook his head slowly as he collected his thoughts. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

Eleena shrugged defensively. "It's an inconsequential part of my past. I withdrew from the program after two years and nothing came of it."

"Two years and you didn't finish?" Kallux narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Fuck, I don't know," she answered. "Because I didn't like it? I was young and restless when I signed up. Two years without seeing a starship engine made me realize what I really enjoy doing."

"It's nice to finally know where your combat expertise comes from," Corsin mentioned. "I've always thought you were a little too good for your average merc." He quickly glanced to Will and Kallux. "Not that you two _aren't_ good..."

Will smirked. "Don't worry, I've already come to terms with being the least threatening member of the team." He looked over to Eleena. "I can't imagine you being a soldier."

"It wouldn't have lasted," she assured him. "I hated it. Too much bullshit."

Kallux chuckled and nodded. "I'm glad you quit. Things on the ship would be pretty boring without you around."

"Seriously," Will added. "And you've saved my ass more than a handful of times."

Eleena continued to tap her foot on the floor and smirked. "No need to lay on the flattery. I'm not planning on defecting to the commandos."

The group laughed softly as their comms pinged and activated.

"_Attention all units, this is Agent Vayren. We are prepared to initiate the facility's security lockdown. Is everyone ready?"_

"_Affirmative, ready and waiting," _Lintarith responded.

"We're ready down here," Corsin answered.

"_Alright. Activating lockdown in three, two, one."_

As the Spectre finished the countdown, the sound of a distant and muffled alarm began blaring in the manufactory above them. Will jumped up onto the ladder, quickly ascending to the top rung and reaching for the center of the hatch above him. He tapped a single button and the door slid open to reveal a surprisingly well lit room and unleash the sounding alarm. Will poked his head up and made a quick scan of his surroundings. Crates both open and sealed were stacked all around the hatch. Seeing no immediate threats, he put his hands on the lip of the hatch's seal and pulled himself up into the room with ease. He quickly steadied himself on his feet and turned to offer a hand to the next in line on the ladder. The rest of the squad was in the room within fifteen seconds with their weapons drawn.

Will took point and waved the other to follow. "Door on the far side of the room. It should open to the main factory floor."

He approached the door and stepped to the side as the others held their weapons ready. He reached for the control panel and opened the door with a quick tap. Corsin stepped through with Eleena just behind him, their weapons scanning the room quickly as they did. Will moved in after them with Kallux taking up the rear. The factory floor was reminiscent of the one they had found on Neidus, but this time they were met by at least a dozen frightened workers. They were clearly confused by the lockdown alarm, but the sight of four armed strangers sent them into a panic. Shouting erupted from the workers as they jumped to hide behind workbenches and equipment. Seeing no immediate threats, Will ran toward the closest group of civilians.

He reached the first, a turian, only to be met with incoherent pleads. "I'm not going to hurt you!" Will lowered his weapon in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "I'm looking for Fayneer T'lees! Where is she?"

He had to shout to be heard over the alarm. Corsin, Kallux and Eleena moved up to his side, their eyes scanning the room for trouble. The turian Will had approached shook his head furiously.

"I don't know! I don't know! This is only my third shift!"

Will stepped past him and shouted. "Does anyone know where Fayneer T'lees is?"

Another turian slowly rose up from behind a nearby conveyer belt. "I... I do! Her office! It's through that door, at the end of the hall!"

The worker turned and pointed to a door at the far end of the room. Will approached the turian with his rifle gripped tightly in his hands.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Yes! I was just there!"

Will looked to the others. "Come on!"

With nods of affirmation the group ran for the door with their sights locked on the center. Just as they were approaching, the door slid apart to reveal a trio of armed turian guards. The _Hyperion_ squad halted and held their aim as the guards did the same.

"Drop your weapons!" Corsin shouted authoritatively.

They responded with a burst of gunfire. Will cursed and dropped to his knee as he and the rest of the squad returned fire. Eleena sent a quick but weak shockwave toward them, causing two of the guards to stumble and lose their aim. Kallux's cannon kicked in at the same moment, the heavy rounds impacting the center guard's chest and quickly obliterating his shields. Corsin and Will concentrated their fire on the turian on their right, quickly tearing through his shields and dropping him under their combined power. Kallux's target was the next to fall, his chest exploding as the armor plating that surrounded it gave way. Eleena had turned her SMG on the final guard as his rifle was brought to bear on Will. His shields dipped dangerously low after a burst from the turian's weapon connected, but leveled out at twenty percent as a series of bullets from Eleena's SMG tore into the enemy's helmet.

"Everyone okay?" Will jumped to his feet and began walking toward the open door.

"Fine," Corsin answered.

Kallux vented his heat sink and nodded. "Same here."

"That was a sloppy shockwave," Eleena grumbled.

Will stepped through the doorway and into a hall that ended at a door currently glowing red to indicate its locked state. He opened his comm as they approached with their weapons ready.

"Captain Lintarith, what's your situation?"

The asari responded with gunfire accenting the message. _"We're under fire from a large group of the security force, but we're holding out! No sign of T'lees!"_

"We've got a possible ID on her location," Corsin informed her. "Moving in now."

"_Understood! The sooner the better, we could use some support!"_ An explosion sounded after Lintarith's request.

"_This is Vayren, we've been staying low in the security room. We'll head to your location now."_

"_Much appreciated, Agent!"_

Will closed the comm channel as they stopped in front of the locked door. Corsin stepped up and prepared his shunt program.

"This might take a second," he said.

As the shunt began to work he stepped back and raised his rifle with the others. After ten seconds of an orange light blinking on the control panel, the hue changed to green and a soft ping sounded. The door slid apart to reveal a large but surprisingly dreary office. At the far end of the room, behind a large desk, an asari stood with a shotgun pointed toward the door in one hand and a wine glass in the other. With all of the squad's weapons on her, she downed the last of her drink and set it on the table.

"Damn. He sent _four_ people to kill me?"

The asari looked up. Will instantly recognized her face from the picture Vayren had found: it was definitely Fayneer T'lees.

"Can't think of a better compliment."

She pulled the muzzle of the shotgun away from the door to her free hand and used it to prime the weapon to fire. She gripped the weapon in her right hand before once again taking aim at the doorway and igniting a biotic glow in her left.

"Make sure you tell him that I shot back."


	18. Chapter 18

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 18**

_**Hub 6, City of Pugnax, Altakiril**_

"Drop your weapon," Corsin ordered authoritatively. "We're not here to kill you."

The squad held their position just inside the doorway with their weapons trained on the asari. Her expression remained stoic and unconvinced after the turian's assertion.

"And I should believe that?" The asari asked. "You have already killed most of my guards."

"We gave them the chance to surrender," Kallux countered sternly. "They opened fire on us. We had no choice."

The teal-faced asari narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Then who are you? What do you want?"

"We need information, and we believe you have it," Will informed her smoothly. "And forgive us for the rushed, intrusive entrance. You're our only lead."

"My name is Corsin Rentarius. I'm a Spectre." Corsin slowly lowered his rifle as a sign of good faith. "And you are Fayneer T'lees, yes?"

The asari finally let the glowing ball of energy in her palm dissipate. Given her initial determination to fight back against impossible odds, she must have believed that they were telling the truth. She dropped the shotgun back to her side and let the barrel hang toward the floor. The fearsome looking gun clattered harmlessly against the light armor that encompassed all of her body but the head.

"That is correct," she finally answered with a sigh. "I suppose I knew that this day would come eventually."

While the rest of the squad lowered their weapons, Eleena continued to grip her SMG cautiously, ready to raise it at a moment's notice. Will and Corsin stepped forward and crossed the room to the desk behind which T'lees was standing. As they approached, T'lees set her shotgun on the table to show her cooperation.

"What do you mean by 'this day?'" Corsin inquired curiously.

Fayneer looked to him. "I have been anticipating two possibilities concerning my fate. The first being that I would finally be tied to the operations of Narenthus Antarian and hunted down to be brought to court. The second being my assassination by Antarian himself."

"Assassinated? You do work for him, right?" Will raised a brow. "We assumed you were one of his lieutenants."

The asari gave him an amused smile. "If only I were so lucky. I am nothing more than a puppet. A shell of a woman with my former power as nothing more than a painful memory." T'lees glanced between Will and Corsin as she continued. "I was once the owner of seven successful manufactories like this one throughout the Terminus Systems. Four years ago, Narenthus Antarian initiated a hostile takeover of my organization and its assets. The only reason I was left in my position was to be a figurehead that he could use for his public advantage." She shook her head regrettably. "But I was told too much, and after his removal from the Spectres, he became increasingly paranoid. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be either sought by the Council or silenced once and for all."

"Sounds like the better option got here first," Eleena said icily from the door.

"If he had sent you, I would be dead by now. Luckily, trial by the Council is precisely what I desired," Fayneer mused.

Corsin cleared his throat. "Actually, we have no interest in taking you into custody. We want Antarian. We just need you to give us information."

"Well, if it means taking that bastard down after what he did to me... I will do what I can to help," the asari informed them.

Before the conversation could proceed, footfalls began echoing through the hallway behind them. The asari commando squad jogged through the doorway and into the office with Captain Lintarith approaching Corsin and Will immediately. The other three commandos took up position with Eleena and Kallux by the doorway. Lintarith grinned as she stepped up beside the human and turian and looked T'lees up and down.

"Good work," she complimented. "Looks like she didn't even put up a fight." Lintarith glanced over to Will and Corsin. "Your friends are in the communications room monitoring the station's security. We don't want the local authorities catching wind of this yet."

"Commandos..." Fayneer said softly as she looked over the uniforms.

Lintarith looked back to her with a cocky smirk. "That's right."

T'lees turned her attention to Corsin. "You have no interest in taking me into custody?"

"But they do," the turian finished. "Now, we'd like you to start talking so we can be on our way."

T'lees paused briefly as a satisfied smile spread across her lips. "I would be happy to tell you everything I know about Narenthus Antarian. After we have agreed upon the terms of our exchange, of course."

Will smirked. "Terms? You don't have the leverage to negotiate for any terms. We'll ask the questions, you give us answers."

Fayneer T'lees tilted her head slightly in a mockingly inquisitive manner.

"Oh, how wrong you are," the asari corrected him tauntingly. "You showed your cards far too early, I am afraid. If I am truly your only lead, as you unwisely informed me, it would be in your best interest to consider my requests."

Will did his best to hide his disappointed frown. He should have known better.

Corsin grunted bitterly and nodded. "Go on, then."

T'lees smiled. "As I said, I will gladly tell you anything you need to know." She looked to Captain Lintarith. "But afterward, I want a pardon for my alleged crimes."

The commando captain laughed at the suggestion, but soon stopped as she realized that Will and Corsin had remained silent. Lintarith narrowed her eyes and gave them a furious glare.

"You are _not_ considering-"

"Of course not," Corsin interrupted. "We can't just assume that any information she gives us is true and then set her free. Besides... I don't know if the Thessian government would even recognize the legitimacy of a Spectre pardon for crimes on their home planet."

"Simply not delivering me to the commandos would suffice, if nothing else." T'lees raised a finger to her lips in contemplation. "Is there no way to ensure your trust in my word?"

"You're a Spectre," Lintarith interjected quickly as she turned to Corsin. "I'm sure you've got plenty of... interrogation techniques. Get what you need and hand her over."

T'lees let her expression change to that of momentary concern until Corsin spoke.

The Spectre shook his head firmly. "Torture is unreliable."

There was a long pause that was finally broken by Kallux. "We could bring her with us while we hunt for Antarian. She'd probably give us more relative and accurate information if her own tail was on the line."

Will turned back to the krogan, slightly taken aback. "Are you crazy? You wanna bring a wanted criminal onto our ship so that she can betray and attempt to kill us?"

"While being a prisoner is most certainly _not _my desire... I would rather be in your hands than those of the Thessian authorities," the asari admitted regrettably. "At least for now. And while your concern is legitimate if you give only a cursory glance at the situation, allow me to offer a few counterpoints. The first and foremost being that while I am, allegedly, a criminal, I am most certainly _not_ a murderer. I may be an exceptional biotic, but I promise you that I have only ever taken lives in self defense."

"Yeah, _that's _convincing," Eleena muttered from across the room.

T'lees ignored the comment. "I am also in no way opposed to seeing Narenthus Antarian brought to justice. Offering my assistance would be as much for you as it would be for me." She smirked softly. "And as for betrayal... I would be a fool to attempt to attack and overpower _four_ clearly capable warriors on their own ship."

"There's actually eight of us," Will added.

"Which only proves my point more so," T'lees said with a sly smile.

Eleena shook her head and stepped up closer to Will and Corsin. "This is fucked up... I don't trust her."

"Trust should not even be a factor!" Captain Lintarith exclaimed, clearly having reached the breaking point of her temper. "Fayneer T'lees is _my _target, and attempting to deny me her capture is an obstruction of justice!"

Corsin, who had been surprisingly quiet, turned to face Lintarith and assumed a dominating stance. The turian held his rifle across his chest and looked down at the shorter asari.

"I'm sorry, Captain, but as a Spectre, my authority overrules your own. For now, Fayneer T'lees will be coming with us." The turian's voice was level and grimly professional.

"You son of a bitch!" Lintarith clenched her fists and stepped up so close to Corsin that their chestplates nearly touched. "We had an agreement! You were to interrogate her and nothing more."

"I didn't intended on going back on my word," Corsin said quietly as he gave T'lees a sideways glace. "But we don't have the luxury of time and alternate options."

T'lees raised a finger. "Might I also point out that, technically, Captain Lintarith and her commandos have no real authority here on Altakiril. It is an independent colony far outside of asari space, after all." She looked to Corsin and raised a brow. "Though, if all of this talk about going back on your word is true, I am not so sure I can trust you to hold up _your_ end of the bargain. For all I know, you could deliver me to Thessia after the conclusion of your mission."

"You probably should have thought about that before you convinced me to take you prisoner," Corsin said as he narrowed his eyes. "But how about this... you lead us to Antarian without problems, I'll consider holding up my end of the deal."

The room would have been silent if not for the sound of Lintarith's angered and labored breathing through clenched teeth. T'lees let her arms fall to her sides and nodded in defeat.

"In that case... I suggest we leave Altakiril quickly." Her eyes shifted across the faces before her. "The local authorities will arrive before long."

Lintarith turned and threw a biotic punch into the support column behind her, denting the thick metal. She turned back to Corsin, her hand still glowing, and pointed a finger accusingly.

"I will _not_ forget this, Rentarius."

"Lower your hand, Captain. It's not smart to threaten a Spectre." The turian's mandibles twitched slightly.

"Fuck you," the commando replied. Lintarith spun and marched toward the door. "Commandos, on me! We're getting off this rock."

Eleena looked to the three commandos that watched as their commander passed them by. Zaera stood at the end of the line, her face bitter and eyes piercing. Eleena frowned and shook her head.

"Zaera, I'm sorry, it's not like I wanted-"

Before she could finish, the lieutenant had turned and followed the captain into the hallway along with the other two commandos. Will looked around the room as everyone stood in uneasy silence. Kallux wore a straight, grim face and clenched his cannon in his hands. Corsin stared at the desk between himself and T'lees, most likely considering whether or not he had made the correct decision. After a few moments, he reached forward and grabbed the shotgun that was sitting on the desk and stowed it on his back.

"You," Corsin addressed T'lees. "Is there any data in this factory's network that can help us?"

The asari shook her head. "I am afraid not. This factory has only been operational for a few months, and everything we produce is retrieved by Antarian's ships. I do not know where the shipments are taken."

Will narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "That's interesting, because we found a holopad of yours that had plenty of data regarding orders and shipments to the Vol Protectorate."

T'lees nodded. "Yes, those transactions would have occurred around six months ago. It was near that time that Antarian shut down most of his and my older manufactories and moved our operations. Since then, he has given me less and less information regarding his business." She hesitated briefly. "However, while the computers here will yield nothing worthwhile, there are two things that I know which might interest you..."

Kallux and Eleena had slowly made their way to Corsin and Will as the squad stood and listened intently to their captive.

"The first is that I have certain access codes that will allow us into Antarian's private networks. I have only a few from an old batch, and they will most likely be traced and firewalled quickly." T'lees smirked lightly. "Of course, I will not release them until we are well off of Altakiril."

Corsin grunted irritably. "What's the other 'interesting' bit?"

"I have been to Antarian's estate. I was flown there and not given information on how to return, but I remember the place itself vividly. I would be very helpful if you plan on assaulting it." She took in a deep breath. "More importantly, I believe I know how to find it."

* * *

Within an hour the squad had made their way back to the_ Hyperion_ and launched into orbit. The group's reaction to their new captive was, understandably, negative. Vayren was quite vocal with his disapproval, leaving Corsin and Will to remind him that he was outnumbered in the decision. In truth, Will himself was barely convinced that this had been the right choice. Tyrixis, Shansa, Eleena and Tul'Sorrin all remained suspicious of the new asari and agreed that if there was even the slightest hint of subterfuge by her part that they should turn her over to the Thessian authorities immediately. On that, everyone agreed. Fayneer assured them that there would be no need for such action, but even herself agreed that it would be a wise choice if they were forced to make it. After Shansa had linked the ship with the nearest comm buoy, Will, Corsin, Vayren and Tul'Sorrin met with T'lees at the computer terminal in the crew's quarters.

"As I mentioned, we may have only one chance," T'lees reminded them.

Tul'Sorrin nodded as he began requesting access to the network provided by the asari. "His cyberwarfare VI will most likely identify the antiquated security code and block all of them from the batch. I'll grab everything I can before that happens."

Vayren grumbled and crossed his arms. "Perhaps, Ms. T'lees, you can tell us how this relates to finding Narenthus Antarian?"

The asari stepped up beside Tul as the others watched her carefully. She eyed the quarian's work, waiting for the moment when she would be needed to enter her access codes.

"Antarian is a peculiar man," she finally began. "As an outsider, he never trusted me a great deal. However, during the years when I was in a slightly positive standing with him, I did gather an idea of how he runs much of his organization. Interestingly, he spends most of his time at his private villa, enjoying the luxuries acquired by his business. Because of this he has a trusted friend, a turian, who acts as his 'hand' in the field."

"Which is what we thought you were," Will noted.

She nodded in acknowledgment. "This turian, Russon, oversees his most delicate operations and, in doing so, communicates directly with Antarian on a regular basis." T'lees pointed to one of the network addresses on the screen. "Yes, this one." She looked back over her shoulder. "If we find Russon, I am certain that he will have what we need to locate Antarian's estate in his omnitool records."

"I'm at the code prompt," Tul'Sorrin informed them.

T'lees leaned over the quarian and placed her hands on the keyboard to enter the code. Her fingers moved far too fast for Will to catch anything worthwhile from the keystrokes. She stood back up as the hidden characters sat waiting in the text field.

Corsin crossed his arms and stared at the screen. "Whenever you're ready, Tul."

The quarian drew a deep breath and tapped the execute function. After a brief second of authorization, the screen filled with code that represented the back end of whatever database T'lees had managed direct them to.

"I've been noticed," Tul announced immediately.

His hands were already quick at work searching through the lines of code. Will stared intently despite not understanding what he was seeing in the least.

"Shipment logs, denied. Expense reports, granted." Tul'Sorrin muttered to himself as he attempted to access different logs. "Granted! Deployment records. Sounds promisings." He quickly saved the data before closing and moving on to the next. "Damn it, I-"

The screen blinked and backed out to the access code prompt once again. T'lees leaned forward immediately and entered another code. This time, they were met with an access error.

"Just as I expected," Tul'Sorrin said regrettably.

"So what did we get?" Will asked nervously.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," the quarian replied as he began parsing through his captured data.

Vayren looked over T'lees as she stood patiently at Tul'Sorrin's side. "And if we find what we're looking for, what should we do with her?"

"Nothing," Corsin said firmly. "We're not going to find our rogue Spectre in this database. Until we have him in our custody, she's going to help us."

She glanced to meet Vayren's gaze. "As I told your companions, Antarian took almost everything from me. I want to find him as much as you do."

"I've got something," Tul announced. "Recent deployments. It looks like a large contingent of soldiers was deployed just under a day ago, led by someone referred to as 'Talon.'"

"Could it be Russon?" T'lees inquired hopefully.

"I have no idea," the quarian answered truthfully. "But I have some information on their assignment... apparently it is 'priority one.'" Tul scrolled down a few more lines before sitting back in surprise. "They were deployed to... Lorek."

Will placed his hand on Tul's chair and leaned forward. "Lorek? Are you sure?"

"Yes." Tul'Sorrin muttered something in Khelish. "It's fragmented, but I have the coordinates. It also looks as though it says something about, 'seizing the silo.'"

"Send them to Shansa," Will ordered. "We need to set course immediately." He straightened himself and looked to the Spectres. "I'll gather the crew and let them know the situation in a few minutes."

Vayren motioned toward T'lees. "What should we do with her? We don't exactly have a brig."

Corsin nodded in agreement. "He's right, and we can't just let her wander around the ship."

"You don't need to convince me," Will assured them. "We'll confine her to the crew's quarters and bunk room and watch her in shifts. I'll take the first one. Luckily, I think the flight from here to Lorek is only about eight hours."

"I'll start looking for reports of anomalous activity around Lorek," Vayren said decidedly.

Corsin nodded. "Good idea, I'll give you a hand."

T'lees watched as the Spectres filed out of the room and glanced over to Will and Tul'Sorrin. "Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is the chain of command on this ship?"

Will leaned his back against the wall and shook his head in exhasperation. "It's complicated."

* * *

The next few hours passed at a snail's pace. T'lees had requested some time to rest only a few minutes after Will had called the crew together to explain their newest course of action. Will gladly agreed to her request and offered her the second to last bunk available. As she slept, Will sat quietly in the chair at the corner of the bunkroom. Three hours passed as he sat with his cheek resting in his palm. Finally, his patience expired and he called Kallux in to take his place as 'warden,' allowing him to head to his locker and remove his armor for the first time since equipping it before Altakiril. The cargo bay was surprisingly empty, with seemingly everyone occupying the forward compartments to either sleep or prepare for the upcoming excursion on Lorek. After sliding his jacket over his shoulders he turned to the doorway at the rear of the cargo bay and approached it with a small smile. As he stepped through the open door and into the engine room, he saw Eleena sitting off to the side with her back against the wall and legs stretched out before her.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," she mused. The asari's eyes lifted up to him.

"Was I due?" Will raised a brow inquisitively.

Eleena pulled one leg up and wrapped her arm around it. "You always want to talk after something big happens. Figured it'd just be a matter of time."

She had changed out of her combat gear and into one of the few outfits she owned that was not a jumpsuit. Eleena wore black pants with large pockets lining the legs and a loose, long-sleeved gray shirt that she often wore to bed. The asari continued to stare at him, her gaze occasionally venturing down his body and back up again.

"Hope I'm not becoming predictable," he mentioned as he leaned against the bulkhead beside the door.

"Not at all." Eleena stared quietly for a moment. "Though it seems you're developing a habit of bringing strange asari aboard your ship after only knowing them for a few hours."

Will smirked. "Twice in six months makes it a habit?"

She shrugged in defeat. "If it happens a third time, then I'll be getting suspicious."

"If a third asari pops up, it won't be because I went out of my way to make it happen." He crossed his arms and smiled. "I was more than happy with just one."

Eleena smirked. "Well, I'm glad I filled your asari quota. You sure know how to make a woman feel appreciated."

"It's got nothing to do with that," Will countered. "How am I supposed to compare anyone to you, regardless of race?"

"I keep waiting for the smooth talk to end..." she trailed off jokingly.

Will winked. "You'd be lost without it."

The asari pulled herself to her feet and began slowly pacing at the center of the room. "Will, I still don't trust her."

"Of course you don't," Will chuckled. "I don't either. No one does."

"Then why is she here?" Eleena spun on her heel to face him.

"We need her to find Antarian. At least... I think we do." He shook his head. "Corsin made the call. I trust him, so I trust his judgment."

"Are you still going to trust him when she turns on us?" The asari's voice had grown much more hushed.

"You mean _if _she turns on us?" Will reached forward and took one of her hands in his. "My trust in Corsin isn't what I'd be worrying about in that situation. Our safety, on the other hand..."

"She won't get the chance to hurt you," Eleena said quietly. "I won't let her."

He felt her hand squeeze gently. Will and Eleena locked eyes as he tried to hold back his amusement.

"You won't, huh?" Will tilted his head to the side with a small grin. "You think I can't protect myself, El?"

She took a step closer to him, not breaking the stare. "If her biotics are half as strong as mine, she can lay down a whole lot of pain." Eleena's free hand reached up and grasped the collar of his jacket. "And this leather isn't gonna ward off any biotic attacks. One of my barriers, though... that would do the trick."

They were close enough for Will to feel the warmth of her breath as it flowed around his neck. His empty hand wrapped smoothly around her hips and lower back, only to find a hard shape through the soft cloth of her shirt. His fingers quickly recognized the shape of her SMG. She still wore the holster on the small of her back, but tucked out of sight. He grinned softly as she winked knowingly.

"I'm glad I've got you watching my back, Eleena."

The asari blinked softly, still looking into his blue eyes. "Always, Will."

Will and Eleena felt the anticipation around them and drew in deep breaths. Their eyes sunk shut as they leaned in to close the small gap that separated their waiting lips. Will kissed deeply, and she reciprocated. Eleena's hand released his collar and snaked its way up the back of his neck and into his dark-brown hair. The asari ran her fingers through the alien oddity as Will's hand slowly dropped from the small of her back to her rear before finally settling at her hips. It was only a few seconds before their lips began widening, seeking more of each others flesh. Their tongues jabbed teasingly at one another before Eleena suddenly pulled back from the kiss. They opened their eyes in unison, their breathing deep and labored. The asari's hand dropped from the back of his head to the door control panel beside them as she leaned forward and held her lips beside his cheek.

"I hope you don't have anywhere to be for the next few hours," she whispered into his ear suggestively.

Will grinned and tilted his head to place a few sensual kisses on her neck. "Just wherever you are." With a firm grasp of her hips he pressed their bodies together tightly. "It's been a long time," he warned her with a nervous chuckle.

"Me too, Will." She took a deep, calming breath. "Just relax."

A small, excited smile spread across her lips as she tapped a button on the control panel. With a soft ping, the door slid shut and locked.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Apologies for the delayed chapter! The next one should come out much quicker as a result. Hope everyone is enjoying the read!


	19. Chapter 19

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 19**

_**MSV Hyperion, en route to Lorek, Omega Nebula**_

_Eleena?_

It felt as though reality had faded into the ether. Will could remember where they were, their bodies laying flush with one another, warm and nude with nothing but a thick fire blanket beneath them on the cold deck of the engine room. But after the joining began, the separation between their bodies and minds had melted away, leaving nothing but one essence. One consciousness shared by two beings. He could feel her, all of her, just as she could feel him. Their bodies and minds had entered a union that even the most extensive and detailed warnings could not have prepared him for. He would have nervously attempted to tell her that this was the first time he had joined with an asari, but the thought quickly left his mind. Will could feel that she already knew.

_I'm here, Will._

He could hear her, but it was nothing that resembled a voice that delivered the message. Will had felt it through the thoughts in their collective mind. Somewhere in the melding, the pleasure from their sexually fused physical forms swirled as a reminder that they still existed in the physical realm. Slowly, a wave of memory began washing over them.

Will reached out for her again. _I feel something..._

_Don't hold back, Will. Open yourself._

Embrace eternity. He didn't exactly know what that meant, but that's what she had told him to do. As the wave reached them, and he understood. He could see her, as she could see him. A perfect, unobtrusive amalgamation of their memories, hopes, desires and everything else that lurked in their thoughts. At that moment, they truly knew one another.

* * *

A buzz rang out from Will's wrist. His eyes fluttered open to see Eleena rousing from her slumber as well, her head resting on his chest. He looked down at his wrist to see an orange light blinking on his omnitool bracelet. Eleena shifted her arms and pushed herself off of him with a small sigh of exertion. She gave him a regretful smile as she sat up at his side.

"Few hours of sleep is better than none, I guess," she said quietly.

Will rubbed his eyes and nodded. "Haven't slept that well in years." He let out a small grunt and pushed himself into a sitting position. "I had some... weird dreams though."

Eleena eyed him as she placed her hands behind her back and leaned comfortably. "That's probably my fault. Your mind has some catching up to do..." She blinked a few times. "So does mine."

His bracelet buzzed again to remind him of an awaiting alert. Will rolled his eyes and raised his wrist to activate his omnitool and read the message.

"Corsin's calling for everyone in the bunkroom," he informed her. "Which means we should probably get dressed."

She smirked softly. "Probably," she repeated, jokingly.

Will turned to face her and raised a hand to gently cup her cheek. The asari's smirk lingered as she looked back at him.

"This, um..." He paused to collect his words and let his hand slowly trace down her body. "This wasn't just something you wanted to get out of your system, right?"

She chuckled softly and reached for her shirt that lay slumped against the wall a few feet away. "You really have to ask that?"

Will cleared his throat and stuttered. "Well, I.. I mean-"

"How many times do I have to tell you to relax?" She slid her shirt on and gave him a reassuring nod and smile. "I really enjoy being with you, Will." Eleena grabbed his undershirt and tossed it into his lap. "I'm looking forward to spending that shore leave together."

He slid on his shirt with a warm smile. "Count on it."

Eleena leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. Four or five hours ago they had shared their first, full of passion and intensity. This one was different; the perfect combination of gentle caring and timid excitement. They proceeded to dress themselves quickly and quietly, their faces still adorned with blissful smiles. As she finished dressing in her shirt and pants, Eleena reached for a black jumpsuit that sat half-wadded up on a shelf. She slid into the utilitarian garb and zipped it up just as Will was sliding on his jacket.

Will stood by the door and crosses his arms. "You still want to keep this on the down-low?"

"At least until things slow down a bit," she answered. "You know, after we catch Antarian or die terribly at his hand."

"Such optimism," Will quipped sarcastically while nodding to the doorway. "After you."

Eleena tapped the control panel as she stepped up and through the opening door. "Gladly."

He turned to follow her into the cargo bay and looked ahead to see Kallux walking toward the bunkroom. The krogan glanced over his shoulder as Will and Eleena appeared from the engine room, a small grin spreading on his lips. Kallux shook his head slowly as Will raised a finger and pointed to the krogan, still maintaining his stride toward the forward compartments.

"Not a word, Kallux," he ordered.

The krogan turned and continued onward ahead of them, still grinning. "Whatever you say, Captain."

Will smirked as they continued on to the forward hallway and turned into the bunkroom where they were greeted by Corsin, Vayren, Tyrixis and T'lees.

"Finally," Corsin jabbed as they entered. "We're about an hour out."

The table at the center of the room displayed a slowly rotating hologram of Lorek. Eleena stepped up and leaned forward on the table with a nostalgic sigh.

"Ah, Lorek," she reminisced. "We've had a lot of fun here in the past."

Vayren crossed his arms. "There won't be much to be had now, I'm afraid."

Will looked around the room and raised a brow. "Where are Shansa and Tul?"

"Cockpit," Corsin replied. "Flying and setting up the comm arrays, respectively. They're listening in."

"_Try to speak clearly!" _Shansa's voice requested from the intercom.

"So what's the situation?" Will stepped up beside Eleena at the table and eyed the hologram.

"Corsin and I managed to uncover some enlightening data," Vayren promptly began. "As some of you may or may not know, Lorek is currently controlled by the Batarian Hegemony, or at least that's who controls it officially. The government is ruthless, and the population is always in various states of turmoil. This is due not only to the harsh rule, but the fact that the colony once belonged to the asari, and resentment toward the unlawful annexation lingers to this day."

Corsin picked up immediately where Vayren left off, almost as though it had been rehearsed. "The past few years there has been increasing levels of protest and violence in the capital, Jalnor. All signs point to an eventual attempt at upheaval."

"You mean a civil war," Kallux finished.

Vayren nodded in affirmation.

Eleena shook her head in bewilderment. "Fuck, is Antarian _completely insane? _He's going to start another war?"

"It seems likely," T'lees said as she stepped forward. "After a significant amount of prying, I convinced Agents Rentarius and Vayren to fill me in on the nature of our hunt. His removal from the Spectres is now quite understandable."

Tyrixis looked to the Spectres. "There is more you were able to find, correct?"

"Yes, we were also able to recover a fair amount of information about this 'silo' that Antarian's men are assaulting," Vayren continued as he pointed toward a waypoint on the image of Lorek. "It's a planetary missile defense base capable of striking both spacecraft and land-based targets."

"What do they want with it?" Tyrixis inquired curiously.

"That's what we need to find out," Corsin answered as he looked to his sister. "I'm guessing it's nothing particularly benevolent."

"If I may," T'lees interjected. "By the sound of things, this defense station is most likely a military installation. Antarian would have sent a sizable force to take it."

Corsin nodded in agreement. "Which is why we'll be going in hot."

"What's the battle plan?" Kallux asked.

Vayren let out a sigh and shook his head. "We don't know much about the facility itself, unfortunately. I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but in my opinion our best course of action would be to going in guns blazing. If this silo is part of Antarian's attempt to instigate another war, we don't have the luxury to dedicate time to recon."

Will blinked in surprise. "That's... a brazen plan."

"There's not much _plan_ there, really," Eleena noted. "What do we do once we're there?"

"We've already talked to Tul'Sorrin," Corsin answered. "He'll stay on the Kodiak with Shansa to run the scanning equipment, monitor comm channels and coordinate the attack as needed."

Will let out a sigh. "Well, if you think it's our best option..."

Tyrixis looked across the table to T'lees and narrowed her eyes. "What will we do with her?"

The crew turned and looked at the asari with suspicious glares. Corsin crossed his arms looked down.

"Well, we can't exactly lock her up." The turian raised a hand to stroke his mandibles.

"_Before you make the suggestion, it might be just a tad difficult for me to keep an eye on her, monitor all these systems _and _coordinate you all,"_ Tul remarked sarcastically over the intercom.

T'lees raised her hands softly. "I understand that my presence is a burden upon your normal procedures. I apologize. But perhaps I can be of some help."

"You want to help?" Corsin glanced to the asari. "How well can you fight?"

"Excuse me?" T'lees turned to the Spectre in surprise.

"The more guns we have the better," Corsin reasoned. "Can you fight?"

The asari shrugged lightly in consideration. "I can handle a shotgun as well as anyone and my biotics are expertly honed, but I'm not trained as warrior. I'm no commando."

"Nor is she on our side," Tyrixis quickly added. "Corsin, I may object to your actions on a regular basis, but this is truly absurd."

"And our alternative?" Corsin waited for a moment for the appropriate response.

"Our alternative is to leave someone behind to watch her," Will finished.

The Spectre nodded. "Precisely."

Eleena stood back and shook her head with a small laugh. "This is fucking ridiculous."

T'lees frowned indignantly before raising her chin. "I gave my word to Spectre Rentarius that I would do all that I could to aid in the capture of Narenthus Antarian. If that means fighting alongside you all, so be it. Antarian has taken far too much from me over the years, and I'm ready to return the favor." She looked to her side where Corsin stood. "Perhaps my dedication to our arrangement will encourage you to uphold your portion when the time comes."

"So you really want to give her a shotgun and stick her in the middle of our squad?" Kallux reiterated, unconvinced. "I may have suggested that we bring her aboard, but at some point we've got to draw a line."

Vayren cleared his throat and raised a finger. "Might I make a suggestion?"

Will shrugged. "By all means."

"We allow her to fight with us," Vayren began as he slowly began walking toward T'lees. "But we do so with a contingency plan."

Corsin nodded for him to continue. "This plan being..?"

The salarian came to a stop behind the asari and made a few tapping motions on the tech panel on the back of her hard-suit. "I happen to have a software modification for armor tech that, when activated, shuts down the suit's microframe computer, disabling the shielding and non-conductive medi-gel functionality. I used it quite successfully in many infiltration and sabotage missions during my time with the STG." Vayren looked around the table. "If I give everyone a trigger for their omnitools, she can be rendered helpless at the first sign of treachery."

The group remained silent until Corsin let out a small chuckle. "That... is just sinister yet practical enough to earn my approval." The turian gave Vayren a nod. "You're thinking like a Spectre."

T'lees cleared her throat and looked to Tyrixis and Eleena. "I'm sorry, but you wish to give _everyone_ the ability to make me a helpless target at the push of a button?"

Corsin sighed and glanced to Vayren. "How about just you, me and Hume."

Will raised a hand. "Woah, hold on now... are we really going to force this woman into a deadly firefight against her will?"

"You won't be forcing me," T'lees assured him. "I'm ready to prove myself trustworthy and return the misfortune that Narenthus Antarian dealt to me." The asari raised a gloved hand and produced a small ball of biotic energy. "Sounds almost... fun."

"If you say so." Will looked around the room to the others. "Any more issues? Suggestions?" After hearing nothing, he looked up. "Shansa, what's our ETA?"

"_We'll be at Lorek in about thirty minutes," _Shansa piped in. _"I'll set the ship down about a hundred kilometers from the target and launch the Kodiak from there."_

"Sounds good." Will stepped back from the table and crossed his arms. "Everyone load up on supplies. If there's even a chance you might need something, bring it."

Corsin nodded to dismiss them. "Let's get this done."

The crew turned and began filing out of the bunkroom to the armory. Will waited until the only people left in the room with him were Corsin and Tyrixis before crossing the room to his personal locker to hang his jacket inside. The Spectre stood at the meeting table, reading through data displayed beside the hologram of Lorek. Once Tyrixis realized that Will would not be leaving, she turned to Corsin and stepped up beside him.

"Do you really think it's wise to bring that asari with us?" The female turian gave him a sideways glance.

"Wise? Probably not," Corsin admitted. "But you're going to have to trust my judgment on this one."

"You know how I feel about your judgment at times," Tyrixis countered as she looked to the hologram.

The Spectre turned his attention to his sister. "There's no body governing our actions out here, Ty. No one has given you an order since you resigned. Why keep acting like that's not the case?"

Tyrixis continued to stare at Lorek in silence as Will closed his locker and turned to watch the turians from the far side of the room.

"I..." The female turian shut her eyes after a long pause. "Old habits are hard to break, I suppose."

"That's not always a bad thing." Corsin raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder. "Someone's got to keep me in line."

Will smiled softly and walked to the door. He had a lot of equipment to round up.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later the crew was fully geared and strapped into their seats as Shansa piloted the Kodiak out of the _Hyperion_ and toward the defense facility. The shuttle had never been so full, and all of its occupants were waiting anxiously for the short flight to end, and the fight to begin. Tul'Sorrin was hard at work in the copilot's seat operating the electronic warfare suite. If things went as intended, he would be able to scramble any scanners their foes might be running. While the _Hyperion_ entered the atmosphere, Tul had been able to get some decent scans of their target area and identified what appeared to be a landing pad at the center of the facility.

"Three minutes," Shansa reported calmly from the cockpit.

Will brought up his omnitool to make a few last-minute checks. All comm channels were operating with their intended recipients. His armor was functioning at peak efficiency. Under his "Mission Temp" executable category, the kill switch for Fayneer's tech systems sat waiting. Will hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

"Thirty seconds, everyone get ready!" Shansa said, her voice growing louder.

The squad pulled themselves to their feet and retrieved their weapons. Kallux, whose cannon would have taken up a significant amount of space in the small compartment, drew his pistols. Will eyed T'lees as she grabbed the shotgun from her back and aimed down the sights once before hugging the weapon to her chest. Will stepped up to the door and placed his hand on the control panel.

"Stand back," he warned.

With a tap of his finger the shuttle's hatch unsealed and swung open, revealing the near pitch-black night sky and driving rain from the perpetual storm that covered much of Lorek. He looked to the viewscreen beside him where the feed from the forward facing camera displayed with a night vision filter. The Kodiak was approaching a large plateau dotted with long slabs of metal scattered about and a few antennae. In the center was a deep, sunken square, where at the bottom was the landing pad that Shansa would deliver them to. The forward and belly thrusters roared as Shansa pushed them to safe descent strength and guided the shuttle into the landing zone. Will gripped his rifle and turned back to the doorway. They had barely reached a safe deployment distance from the ground when gunfire erupted and impacted the shields of the waiting squad.

Will waved the others forward. "Go!"

The landing pad was illuminated by a series of floodlights positioned at the top of the surrounding walls. As Will leapt from the shuttle and hit the ground he could see at least four soldiers near a wide door on the far side of the below-ground enclosure. The _Hyperion _squad's weapons opened up in retaliation as they unloaded from the Kodiak. Will watched the side of his HUD where his allies' shield statuses dipped. A ball of biotic energy flew past him in the blink of an eye and exploded between two of the enemy targets, causing what looked like an unstable mass effect field to expand and encapsulate the pair, sweeping them off of their feet and twisting their bodies as they floated helplessly. With two of their targets incapable of returning fire, the squad concentrated on the immediate threats. They were tough; their armor and weapons were clearly above the standard of average Terminus mercs. The first to drop was a turian, finally giving in to the heavy gunfire and falling to the ground. The second, his batarian counterpart, was downed by a well-placed headshot from Vayren's sniper rifle.

"I'm glad I still remember how to do that," T'lees announced proudly as she unleashed a shotgun blast into one of the two soldiers caught in her singularity.

Will held his fire as the biotics dissipated and their remaining foes dropped to the ground, motionless. Behind him, the door of the Kodiak shut as the shuttle's thrusters blasted it up and into the sky.

"_I'll be circling nearby," _Shansa announced over the comm.

The squad made a quick visual sweep of the landing pad to see that the four dispatched targets had been their only opposition. There were two doors, one on both the eastern and western walls around the landing pad. Will raised his rifle and hurried toward the collection of fallen soldiers. Kallux holstered his pistols as they approached and reached for his cannon, initiating its warmup while Vayren hurried to Will's side and knelt down next to one of the dead soldiers, a turian, and grabbed his wrist. The salarian activated the turian's omnitool and scanned it with his own.

"Looks like I've got a map of the facility. Sending it to you all now," he announced as he quickly reviewed the data. "No labels or notations, of course. The facility looks mirrored for the most part, but I can't tell where the control center might be."

Before he could say any more the door at the opposite end of the landing pad parted to reveal another group of five foes. Kallux and Eleena had been watching the door and immediately raised their weapons to the newcomers, only to be met with gunfire. The others turned to meet the opposition and unleashed a torrent of bullets in return. Will dropped to his knee to steady his aim on what looked like a human and squeezed off a few bursts into his legs. Kallux's cannon roared and cut down a turian at the center of the enemy squad as Eleena locked up another in a biotic stasis. One of their targets, a salarian, raised his omnitool and sent out a small flash.

"Damn it!" Corsin shouted and stumbled backward.

Will glanced to Corsin's shield monitor to see it had disappeared completely under the salarian's overload.

"Get down!" Will called to the Spectre.

Corsin did not hesitate before diving behind one of the nearby bodies. Bullets from the enemy squad's weapons tore into the corpse and ground nearby as they focused their fire on the Spectre. Kallux's cannon hissed and steamed as rain poured over the weapon, the heat sink barely keeping up. Tyrixis and Vayren downed the salarian engineer with heavy burst as Will, Eleena, T'lees and Kallux placed shots into the others. As the third fell, the remaining two targets seemed to panic and turned to run back through the door and into the base. Will caught one of them, a turian, with a shot to the neck and set him to the ground. The door shut as the fifth escaped.

"This may be tough," Corsin muttered as he pulled himself up, his armor's systems finally recharging. "This unit is organized."

"I would expect as much," Tyrixis noted. "Antarian did refer to this operation as... 'priority one,' after all."

"So where are we going?" Eleena asked impatiently.

Vayren had already returned to studying the data on his omnitool. "We need to cover as much area as possible. I suggest we split our forces and take a squad through each entrance. If this map is accurate, these halls are too cramped to maneuver a seven-man unit, anyway."

Corsin nodded. "Sounds good. How should we split up?"

"Allow me." Will raised his hand to point as he named off the groups. "Vayren, Kallux and Eleena will move as one squad. The other will comprise of T'lees, Tyrixis, Corsin and me. That's a biotic and tech specialist in each group, and relatively even firepower."

Vayren and Corsin nodded in approval as the squads gathered together. Eleena looked to Will and gave him a slightly worried look. Will motioned toward T'lees as she checked her shotgun and tapped near his eyes on his visor. Eleena nodded understandingly and turned to Kallux and Vayren as they walked toward the door.

"Stay safe," Will called to them as he, Corsin, T'lees and Tyrixis started off for the door on the opposite side. "If you hit trouble, radio in and fall back to the landing pad."

"Understood," Vayren replied.

Will watched over his shoulder as Vayren, Kallux and Eleena breached the door and, upon being met met with no resistance, entered the facility. As he approached the other entrance with his squad, Will raised his rifle and trained his sights on the center of the door. Corsin activated his omnitool to force open the lock as T'lees and Tyrixis took up position on either side of Will, their weapons at the ready. The door panel blinked green and began to rotate as the security shunt did its work. T'lees raised her palm and readied a biotic attack.

"Here we go," Corsin announced as he stepped back and raised his rifle.

Will took a deep breath and curled his finger around the trigger of his M-15 as the door slid open.

"This way!" Came a voice from inside the door. "Shit!"

The _Hyperion _squad opened fire down the hallway into a squad of four soldiers that were charging toward the door. T'lees unleashed a quick shockwave, throwing them off balance as Corsin, Will and Tyrixis unleashed a torrent of bullets into them. The enemies fell one by one as they regained their composure and attempted to return fire. The squad's shields dipped slightly as the powerful weapons, surely of Antarian make, landed a few shots. T'lees landed a blast from her shotgun that silenced the final target, leaving him slumped against the wall.

"Maybe they're not as organized as we thought," Will said hopefully as they moved into the hallway.

"_I wouldn't say that,"_ Tul'Sorrin mentioned through the comm. _"But there is a lot of confusion in their network right now. I'd suggest moving as fast as possible to keep them guessing."_

"Affirmative, will do," Corsin replied as he took point.

The door shut behind them. The hall was relatively short and ended at T-intersection lined with windows to another chamber. Everything around them from the color to material of the facility's walls was strictly utilitarian and militaristic. The gray metal walls were painted with red signs and warnings that listed various directions. Sadly, all the destinations displayed were nothing more than vague or unhelpful locations such as "Level 1" and "Landing Pad." As they approached the intersection, Will lowered his rifle slightly to get a better view through the tall, glass viewports. The squad checked either direction and upon seeing no targets, turned their attention to the chamber through the glass.

"I see why Antarian has such an interest in this place," T'lees mentioned worriedly.

The chamber was a launch silo, at least two stories in height. At the center of the room was an enormous missile, the bottom of which was misting around what appeared to be fuel hoses.

"We should not linger," Tyrixis warned them.

"She's right." Will turned for the door on their right. "Everyone keep your weapons ready. T'lees, be ready to drop another singularity or shockwave." He tapped the panel at the center of the door and raised his rifle. "Here we go."


	20. Chapter 20

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 20**

_**Missile Defense Station 04, Lorek**_

"Clear," Will announced. "Hold position for a minute. Let's catch our breath."

After moving through two sections of hallway uncontested, the squad had finally met more resistance in the form of two trigger-happy scouts. Both had fallen relatively quickly, but they had managed to put a heavy burst into Will and drop his shielding completely. His armor was able to absorb a pair of shots that would have struck his leg, leaving the plating heavily warped. Will took a quick look at the rest of the squad to see that they had relaxed their weapons while still appearing alert. He activated his omnitool and opened a channel to the second team.

"Vayren, what's your status?"

The salarian's response was curt and muffled by the sound of a firefight. _"Meeting moderate resistance."_ The mic remained open as his rifle fired off two shots. _"Approaching a flight of stairs. Second level is the most expansive and has a few large rooms, one of which may be the control center."_

The sound of Kallux's cannon and Eleena's SMG rang in the background. Will brought up the map Vayren had sent them and identified a stairwell nearby.

"I see one near us as well. We'll head there." He smirked to himself. "Sounds like you all are gathering more attention than we are."

"_I'm sure you'll get yours,"_ the salarian replied, the sound of gunfire now absent.

"I hope so," Will stated cockily. "Hume, out." He immediately opened up a second channel to the shuttle. "Shansa, Tul, everything alright up there?"

"_We've had no resistance,"_ Shansa answered. _"I'm guessing they didn't expect a counterattack and opted not to pack their anti-air."_

"_Still nothing useful from monitoring their comm channels," _Tul added. _"Though they seem to know you have split into two squads."_

Will sighed and began walking toward a door that would lead them to the stairwell. "Let's hope they don't send their whole force to overwhelm one group. Anything else?"

"_Nope, just waiting on the extraction order."_

Will was always struck by the way Shansa became nearly a different person while flying. The normally upbeat and jumpy woman suddenly became stoic and straight-faced behind the flight controls.

"Hopefully we'll be giving it soon," he replied. "Will, out."

Corsin, T'lees and Tyrixis had already grouped up at his side and were waiting with their guns aiming at the door.

The Spectre gave him a sideways glace. "We ready to move?"

Will nodded in response. "If you are."

With no objections, he reached for the control panel and opened the door. They were met with an empty hallway that was lined with yet another set of windows to the shaft of a missile silo. Will stepped forward and hurried to the end of the hall where another door stood waiting for them. Behind this one, according to their map, was the stairwell that allowed access to all three levels of the facility. He reached for the lock, but was met with an unsatisfactory buzz.

"Allow me," Corsin said as he raised his omnitool.

The turian worked his technical prowess for a few seconds before the door relented and slid open. The stairwell was worryingly dark, and the squad quickly switched on their flashlights to illuminate their path. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Will stepped in and turned to the left where the stairs descended to the floors below.

"Vayren and the others are headed down to the second level," he informed them as they began slowly making their way down the stairs. "He believes the control center is most likely there."

"And when we find the control center?" Tyrixis inquired.

Will came to a stop at a door with the sign "Level Two" printed above it and waited for the others to circle around him. "We'll figure that out when we get there."

He readied his weapon and tapped the control panel at the center of the door. It parted to reveal a long hallway with at least a half dozen doors and intersecting halls lining either side. Will moved forward and deactivated his flashlight as he led the group through the door and into the hall. He held his weapon straight as his eyes wandered the walls, floor and ceiling.

"Where the hell are they?" Corsin muttered quietly.

Will was considering a response when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. His head jerked to the left to see a small, gray puck on the wall with a green light blinking on its side. He jerked to a halt and raised his hand. Will's eyes widened as the rate at which the green light blinked began steadily increasing until it froze and turned red.

"Get down!"

Will turned and dove back to the floor as the mine exploded and sent shrapnel and fire roaring through the hall. Corsin, Tyrixis and T'lees did not have a chance to drop to the floor and were blown back off their feet. Luckily, they were a few meters behind Will as he had led them forward. The powerful blast filled the hall with smoke and debris, while also rendering them temporarily deaf. As Will rolled over and pulled himself up he jerked to the side as something impacted his low shields. A bullet. Through the smoke, he could see the muzzle flashes bursting to life from the sides of the hall. He scrambled to turn and run for the nearest intersecting hallway, grabbing for Tyrixis as he passed by. The doctor was pulling herself up as Will tugged at her shoulder, beckoning her to follow as he darted around a corner and into cover.

He opened his mouth and attempted to shout. "Follow me!"

His own voice was barely audible inside his own head. Even so, Corsin and T'lees managed to come stumbling around the corner, trailed by bullet holes and swirling smoke. Will raised his hand and waved for them to follow as he turned and limped toward the nearest door. He slammed his fist into the panel and hoped beyond everything else that the door would open. To his relief, the control panel became green shortly before the door itself slid apart, allowing the squad to run into the room and shut it behind them. His hearing began returning at an exponential rate the instant they found safety.

"Why must you ask such inane questions?" Tyrixis scolded as she looked to Corsin with a cough.

"They'll follow us," Corsin managed to gasp as he caught his breath. "The gunfire is already gone."

"_Captain, come in. Is everything alright?"_

Will wheezed and opened his comm to answer Tul. "Ambushed... we're okay, but we might not be for long."

"_Yes, I hear it on their comm network. Try to lay low. Help is coming."_

Even with his adrenaline spiked and flowing, pain was spreading over Will's body. He turned to scan the room they had entered and quickly determined that they were in some sort of dormitory. It was reasonably large, about twenty meters in either direction, and filled with bunk beds. On the opposite wall was another door that most likely opened to one of the adjacent halls that their attackers had taken position in. Behind him, Corsin had finished applying a lockdown to the door in an attempt to slow their foes.

"Get to cover," Will ordered while moving into the rows of beds.

The squad did not hesitate. Together, they hurried to the center-most aisle in the room and brought their weapons to bear on the door they had come through. Tyrixis reached down to the pack on her hip and grabbed a small orb, gave it a quick tap to activate, and threw it side-armed to the door behind them on the far side of the room. Will raised a brow curiously.

"Proximity mine," she said. "No point in leaving our flank exposed."

"Learn from your enemy, right?" Will gripped his rifle and chuckled. "You're wicked, doc."

His laugh was silenced as the door in front of them buzzed from their pursuers attempting to force their way inside. Four weapons held their sights on the door as the control panel hummed and spun in place. T'lees raised a hand and began channeling a ball of biotic energy, giving Will an idea. He plucked a grenade from his belt and glanced to the asari at his side.

"Are you dropping one of those anti-grav fields?" Will felt rather silly not knowing the technical term.

T'lees nodded. "A singularity, yes."

"Right, singularity." He primed his grenade and cocked his hand for a throw.

The asari gave him a brief look before nodding slowly in comprehension. In front of them the security panel finally turned green, allowing the door to slide apart. T'lees threw her singularity forward, causing it to impact and expand just through the doorway at the center of the hall. Three of Antarian's soldiers, all in position to breech the door, were caught in the biotic field and lifted from their feet just as Will tossed his grenade. The explosive entered the singularity and lost its momentum, coming to a floating stop between the three enemy soldiers. After two seconds, the grenade exploded, killing them instantly and sending shrapnel into the room as the squad ducked into cover.

"Nice!" Corsin remarked as he rose up and took aim with his rifle once again.

As the singularity faded, two more enemy soldiers leaned from cover and began unloading into the room. The _Hyperion_ squad fired back, still kneeling behind the bunks to give them as much cover as possible. Cheap sheets and pillows were shredded in the exchange of gunfire and after a good fifteen seconds of crossfire, two shots impacted one of the attacking soldiers square in the helmet, dropping him. The other disappeared back into cover as Will let out a sigh of relief and waited for his M-15 to cool.

"Behind!" Tyrixis shouted.

An explosion rang out from the far side of the room as the doctor's proximity mine exploded. The two turians spun to face the new threat as Will and T'lees remained focused on the others. Corsin and Tyrixis squeezed their triggers to deter a pair of batarians from forcing their way into the room as Will and T'lees waited for their turn. Unsurprisingly, two more of Antarian's men appeared in the doorway and took aim, a few shots finding their mark on Will and T'lees. As their shields dipped, one of the assaulting soldiers reached to his belt and grabbed a grenade. Will caught sight of the action and attempted to place a shot into the explosive to no avail. The soldier tossed the grenade toward them, landing the throw on the edge of a bunk a few meters to the left of T'lees.

"T'lees, grenade!" Will grabbed the asari and attempted to pull her toward him and away from the explosive.

It was too late. The grenade detonated just as the asari had turned in search of the danger. Will stumbled backward from the combined force of the explosion and T'lees being thrown into him. There was a small pause before the asari let out a gut-wrenching scream and began shaking terribly. Will slid out from beneath her, grabbed his rifle and jumped back up to shoot at the soldier that had thrown the grenade as he attempted to step into the room.

"Tyrixis!" Will shouted over the screams of their wounded asari squadmate. "T'lees is hit!"

"I'm on it," she answered firmly.

Will couldn't turn to show her, so he trusted that Tyrixis could find the obvious injury. The enemy turian soldier who had attempted to sneak in was dropped as Will finally downed his shields and ripped open his chest with a burst from his rifle. He shuddered involuntarily as T'lees continued to scream unnervingly, her vocal chords clearly straining in pain from the ravaging. Will turned his sights on the second target in the doorway, a batarian, only to see his foe look to the side while being hit by a series of heavy shots.

"In here!"

Kallux's voice was music to Will's ears. The imposing krogan stepped up to the doorway and waved for them to follow.

"This place is a deathtrap!" Kallux glanced down the hall. "Follow us."

Will turned to see Tyrixis kneeling over a whimpering T'lees, scanning the asari's helmet with her omnitool. Or what was left of it. A large portion of her helmet was caved in, with some of it even having been blown off. The visor itself was shattered, leaving only half of the cracked glass in its place. Will couldn't see very much with Tyrixis leaning over her, but what he could see was an unsettling amount of blood.

"We need to move," he said authoritatively.

Corsin, who had been firing at his doorway almost continuously for the past thirty seconds, glanced over his shoulder and nodded to Will and Tyrixis.

"Grab T'lees, I'll cover the flank!"

Tyrixis deactivated her omnitool and reached under the asari's shoulder as Will knelt at her side and did the same. T'lees moaned in pain as they hoisted her up between them and hurriedly moved toward the door where Kallux stood waiting. Corsin ripped a smoke grenade from his belt and threw it toward the far door as he stood and began backing away, his weapon still raised and at the ready. Kallux had turned and begun marching down the hallway, his cannon in hand. As Will and Tyrixis stepped through the door they were met by Eleena and Vayren. The salarian had his arm wrapped around the asari's neck as an obvious puncture in his leg armoring leaked a dark green blood. The group moved cautiously down the hall as Corsin exited behind them and backpedaled at their rear to ensure they were not being pursued.

"Left here," Vayren said in a strained voice. "Found a room on the map with only one entrance."

They turned and walked down another hall, passing two doors on either side before coming to a third on their right.

"This is it," the salarian grunted.

Kallux opened the door and stood to the side as he ushered the others inside. After all but Corsin had entered, the krogan finally turned and stepped into the room, leaving Corsin to follow and lock the door behind them. The room was much smaller than the dormitory, and relatively empty with a few crates sitting against the walls. Will and Tyrixis moved to one of the walls and gently set T'lees to the floor as Eleena moved straight to the back of the room and propped Vayren up with his back to the wall. The salarian retrieved his pistol from his holster once he was seated and held it with the barrel toward the door. Will stood up and back slowly to the center of the room, his heart and mind racing in panic. Tyrixis had already retrieved a small medical kit from her pack and was leaning over T'lees once again. Luckily, the asari was now completely silent, most likely from sedative medi-gel.

"Fuck... what the hell happened?" Will turned to Vayren and dropped to his knees in front of the salarian.

"Proximity mine," Eleena answered quickly as she activated her omnitool.

"We hit one as well," Corsin informed her.

Kallux and Corsin had assumed a position by the door with their weapons drawn, ready to retaliate in case they had been followed. Will moved to the side as Eleena knelt next to Vayren and applied a dose of medigel to his leg. The salarian let out a small sigh of relief and looked over to the asari.

"Thank you."

Eleena nodded. "Yeah, of course." She glanced over her shoulder to Tyrixis and T'lees. "What happened to her?"

"Grenade." Will realized he was gripping his rifle far too tightly and relaxed. "Short fuse... I tried to warn her, but-"

Tyrixis looked to them for a moment. "She's hurt. Badly."

Eleena stepped over to the other asari and winced. "Fuck..."

The doctor turned her attention back to her patient. "You don't want to see it without the gauze."

"_Captain, do you copy?"_

Will nodded to himself. "I hear you, Tul."

"_Good news. It sounds like they're falling back to where this 'Talon' fellow is."_

"And the bad news?" Will muttered.

"_How did you know there was bad news?" _Tul sounded worried.

Will closed his eyes and shook his head. "Just tell me."

"_It sounds like they're about to initiate something... I don't know what."_

"The control center," Vayren said with a small cough. "We were fighting toward it when I hit that mine."

Corsin turned from the door in surprise. "You found it? Why didn't you say anything?"

"We had bigger problems," Kallux countered. "Such as getting our wounded to safety."

Vayren nodded and raised his omnitool. "I've marked it on the map. Antarian's men were retreating toward it."

"Then let's move," Corsin declared.

Tyrixis shook her head. "We need to get these two back to the ship, now," she objected. "T'lees is severely wounded, and I haven't even _looked_ at Agent Vayren."

The squad jumped in surprise as the loud, artificial batarian voice of the facility's VI rang out from the intercom.

"_Attention: all personnel. A strike sequence has been initiated. Launch will commence in fifteen minutes. Evacuate all silos immediately."_

Will brought up his omnitool and set a timer for fourteen minutes and fifty-five seconds.

Corsin's mandibles twitched lightly. "That's... not good."

"Alright, listen..." Will lowered his omnitool and looked around the room to the entire squad. "Kallux, Tyrixis... can you get these two up to the landing pad for evac?"

"Don't send Kallux," Vayren interjected as he pulled himself to his feet. "Tyrixis and I can take T'lees. You need all the firepower you can manage."

The krogan glanced over his shoulder. "You sure?"

The salarian winced as he set weight on his wounded leg. "Yes." He stowed his weapon and limped to Tyrixis. "Let's get her up."

Will frowned and watched as the asari was once again hoisted up to be carried, her shattered helmet on the floor and her head now half wrapped in gauze. Tyrixis and Vayren got under each of her arms and nodded in acknowledgment, ready to move.

"Can they make it to the landing pad alone?" Eleena asked to the others.

"If the enemy has fallen back to a single position, we should not meet any opposition," Tyrixis informed her. "I hope Tul'Sorrin is correct in his assessment."

"_I am,"_ the quarian said confidently. _"The comm traffic is virtually non-existent, meaning they are most likely all in the same place. No need for comms when all your men are in one room."_

Will shook his head in defeat. "Alright, go. Fast. I'll contact Shansa."

"_Way ahead of you,"_ the pilot radioed in. _"Tul already updated me on the situation. I'm inbound now, be there in about two minutes."_

Corsin stepped up the door and opened it with a quick tap of his finger. He leaned out and looked in either direction before nodding to Tyrixis and Vayren as they approached with T'lees between them.

"Looks clear." The turian Spectre moved to the side.

Tyrixis looked over her shoulder as they entered the hall. "Don't sit there watching us, your time is growing short!"

The squad perked up and raised their weapons as Tyrixis, Vayren and T'lees disappeared down the hallway and out of sight around the first corner. Will raised his weapon and moved into the hall with Kallux, Eleena and Corsin on his flank, ready to fight. He brought up the marker that Vayren had given them on his HUD and turned in the opposite direction that their evacuating group had gone. The squad was silent in following Will as he set off toward their destination: the control center.

"Do we know how many are left?" Eleena asked with a hint of apprehension.

"Don't worry about that," Corsin answered. "Just keep your head in the fight."

A small cloud of biotic energy emitted from the asari's body then disappeared. "Oh, I will."

Will led them around a few corners until the waypoint he had received was only a few dozen meters ahead. He was about to order everyone to get ready when Corsin grabbed his shoulder and yanked him to a halt.

"Don't move," the turian said curtly.

"What?"

Corsin raised his omnitool and pointed it toward a small, gray puck on the wall a few feet ahead of them. With a quick overload, Corsin extinguished the blinking light on the side of the mine and nodded.

"That's what," he answered.

"Good catch," Kallux complimented as he stepped forward. "How 'bout I take point?"

"If you really want to," Will replied. "But we don't have much further to go."

He pointed down the hall. At the end was a security door with the words "Control Center" painted in red font above it. Kallux wasted no time and set forth, his cannon primed and humming impatiently. Moving slowly, Will raised his wrist to take one last look at the map. They were approaching a room near the northern end of the facility that, much to his surprise, was nowhere near the largest.

"_Captain, are you there?"_

Will opened his comm. "I hear you, Tul."

"_We've just picked up the others and are headed back to the _Hyperion _now. We'll head back toward the facility once they've been unloaded."_

"Understood. Thanks for the update." Will closed the comm link and nodded to the door that lay ahead. "Looks like this is one of the side entrances." His voice was low as he deactivated his omnitool and raised his rifle.

"I'm betting the door's locked," Corsin mentioned. "I'll hit it with hack, but it will probably take a second to open. They'll know we're coming."

Will drew a deep breath. "Alright. Let's hit them. All in."

Kallux came to a stop in front of the door and planted his feet firmly. Will pressed his shoulder to the wall beside the door and gripped his rifle as Eleena stood to the krogan's side with a biotic shockwave growing in her hand. Corsin activated his omnitool and injected his hack into the lock of the door before quickly readying his weapon as well. The lock spun in place for a few seconds before blinking green, allowing the door to slide apart. Time slowed to a crawl. Kallux squeezed the trigger of his cannon, causing it to whir in preparation before the door's halves had parted. The first heavy slug blasted forth and tore deep gash into the metal of the door as it slid open, followed by a second that flew threw and into the room. Will stepped out from the wall and planted his feet, aiming down his sights as the control center was revealed to them.

They didn't have time to take aim. The six figures in room opened fire at the same moment the _Hyperion _squad did, creating a terrifying tempest of crossfire. Kallux roared almost as loud as his cannon, the heavy slugs finding the first kill on a completely exposed soldier only a few meters from the door. Will saw the squad's shields begin to dive a mere second into the exchange and let his instincts take over. He dove forward for an overturned desk just inside the door, sliding into place as Eleena's shockwave finally exploded forth and sent a trio of Antarian's soldiers off of their feet. With only two of their opponents returning fire, Kallux took the opportunity to lumber forward, his shields wavering dangerously low. His cannon tore into one of the soldiers hit by Eleena's shockwave just as Corsin placed a shot to the same target's head while standing in the safety of the doorway. The numbers were even. To the left, two of the enemies hit by Eleena's shockwave were pulling themselves to their feet while at the center of the room a salarian engineer was preparing to deploy a set of drones. To the right, just in the corner of Will's eye, a bulky turian with the insignia of a claw on his shoulders leveled a fierce-looking shotgun toward Kallux.

"Kill the krogan!" The turian shouted.

Kallux roared in primal bloodlust. Will had only seen this side of him on a handful of occasions. Will raised his rifle on one of the soldiers to their left and squeezed the trigger as Eleena suddenly rocketed by in a ball of biotic energy. She impacted the salarian at the center of the room, sending him flying head over heels into the far wall. A split second later, the turian soldier's shotgun unleashed a heavy blast into Kallux, ripping into the krogan's chestpiece. The krogan growled in pain and turned to charge the turian, his cannon's omniblades extending in the blink of an eye. Corsin and Will placed the killing shots into one of the remaining targets, leaving only a batarian soldier fumbling to ready his weapon. Will jumped over the flipped table he was using as cover and lunged for the batarian, slamming the stock of his rifle into his visor. The soldier fell back as Eleena's SMG riddled his body with bullets.

"Aggh! No!"

Will, Corsin and Eleena turned to see the turian wail in pain as Kallux swiped his omniblades straight through his armor, severing his left arm at the elbow in one fell swoop. The krogan squeezed his trigger half-way through the swipe, sending a pair of shots into the turian's torso as he finished the attack. The turian collapsed onto his back, his shotgun sliding across the floor and into the wall. Kallux stood over him, panting heavily as dark orange blood dripped from the bullet holes in his chestplate and onto the floor. Corsin darted through the doorway and leveled his weapon on the subdued turian.

"Talon?" Corsin asked as he looked to his claw insignia.

The turian shook in pain, but did not respond.

Will stepped up to Kallux's side and peered down. "Russon?"

"You... you're the Spectre?" The turian sputtered.

Corsin knelt down and hugged his rifle to his chest. "Corsin Rentarius. A pleasure. Now answer me... are you Russon?"

"Y-yes... fuck... just give me some medi-gel," he pleaded.

After a brief hesitation, Will knelt down and applied a conservative dose of medi-gel to his bleeding half arm. Corsin, however, went straight to work. He grabbed the Russon's right wrist and activated his omnitool, quickly scanning it with his own to retrieve its data. Corsin stood and immediately began parsing through his find.

"I'm sending a copy to everyone," he said.

Kallux, who had recomposed himself, looked up to a descending countdown clock on the wall. "What's the timer?"

Will waited for a few seconds for the turian to respond before giving his a quick smack. "Russon, answer us. What's the countdown for?"

Russon shook his head slowly. "It's... it's the launch timer."

"Yeah, no shit," Eleena remarked. "We know that. Launch timer for what?"

"Hold on," Corsin answered. "I've got an archived message here. Twenty hours old and from Narenthus Antarian himself. Mission objectives for the eyes of Russon Fintius only."

Kallux stepped back from the mortally wounded turian beneath him and looked to Corsin. "What's it say?"

"Multiple missile strikes. This first series will target the planetary regime's military intelligence headquarters and a population center of known anti-government sympathizers." The Spectre scrolled down, his eyes darting across the screen. "Minutes after the launch they'll send a declaration to both sides implicating the other as the aggressor."

"We... would have..." Russon coughed. "Won't be getting the chance now," he laughed weakly.

Will shook his head. "That's it...? That's all Antarian has been doing?"

"It wasn't this way... on Sharkeer," Russon muttered almost incomprehensibly. "We used... assassination. Missiles... were the easier option here."

Corsin deactivated his omnitool and ran for the center control console as Will continued to kneel beside Russon.

"How do we stop it?" Will asked the dying turian.

Russon coughed and spit up a mouthful of blood, but did not respond.

"Answer us, damn it." Eleena clenched her fists slightly.

The turian was clearly struggling to remain conscious as blood leaked from his body drop by drop, taking his life with it.

"You don't have to let this happen," Kallux said quietly. "You've got nothing to gain from killing these people... look at you."

"That doesn't mean I can't... remain loyal," Russon argued, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Corsin looked up from his control console. "We annihilated your entire force. We _will _find Antarian. Help us stop this so you can die without a burden on your conscience."

Will glanced back up to the countdown timer. Just over five minutes remained.

Russon closed his eyes. "You... you're right."

"Then help us!" Eleena shouted.

"He can't," Corsin interjected.

Will looked back to Corsin. "What? Why not?"

The Spectre shook his head and stepped back from the console. "The missiles... their trajectories and launch sequences... they can't be altered from this console. They're hard coded onto the on-board flight computers themselves."

Russon shook his head gently. "Yes... we programmed them all individually... so there would be no way to trace back the logs to the launch computer." His eyes opened partially. "But you can change them. The access panels... they're on the side of each missile."

Eleena shook her head. "With four missiles about to launch? We can't reprogram them all."

"Not if we're sitting here," Will declared as he jumped to his feet and activated his omnitool. "Closest silo is this way, come on."

"Good luck," Russon muttered in a whisper.

Kallux, Corsin and Eleena hurried after Will as he led them through a door on the far side of the room at a near sprint. A few meters down the hall, he turned to the left and continued onward until a series of windows appeared on the wall. Inside they could see one of the missiles that they had observed from the first level. He reached the door and, thankfully, it parted without requesting any security clearance, allowing him into a small airlock. The squad moved in behind him as he opened the next door and stepped into the launch silo itself, a twenty-foot missile standing ominously at the center of the room. Will, Eleena and Kallux came to a stop and stared up at the device as Corsin stepped past them and jumped up to the indented rungs on the side of the missile that acted as a service ladder. He scrambled up until coming to a stop near the top and activated a small, non-holo screen that was built into the side of the missile.

Will slid his rifle onto his back and looked up. "What's it look like, Corsin?"

The turian had already brought his omnitool up and begun scanning. "The flight computer is..." He shook his head. "Not friendly."

Above them, the VI sounded through the facility's intercom._"Attention: launch will commence in three minutes."_

"Can you do it or not?" Eleena asked bluntly.

Corsin shook his head. "Not fast enough to do all four, but I have an idea."

Kallux nodded impatiently. "Spit it out, we're out of time."

"I'm reprogramming the detonation procedure; it's much easier to alter. I can set the warhead to explode instantly on launch." The turian's fingers blazed across the screen. "The explosion would be large enough to take out the facility."

Will nodded eagerly. "Good, good! I'll call in the shuttle." He opened a comm link to the Kodiak. "Shansa, are you there?"

"_I hear you, Will." _Her voice was calm and collected.

"Get to the landing pad, now," he ordered. "And be ready to get out _fast. _Understood?"

"_I'll be there in just under a minute."_

Will looked back up to Corsin. "We need to go!"

The turian waved them off. "It's not done. I'll catch up, get to the Kodiak!"

Kallux and Eleena paused momentarily before turning for the door. Will stared at the turian and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the facility's VI.

"_Attention: launch will commence in two minutes."_

Corsin looked over his shoulder. "Go!"

Will turned and ran for the door as Eleena and Kallux waited on the other side. Together, they turned and sprinted down the hall as Will looked at the map on his wrist to guide them toward the exit. Adrenaline coursed violently through Will's veins as he turned into the stairwell and leapt up the stairs three or four at a time. They barreled through the exit on level one and into the hallway. Straight ahead, at the end of the hall, was the exit to the landing pad. Will slammed his fist onto the control console, forcing it open and allowing them out onto the platform filled with the driving rain. The squad stepped over the collection of dead soldiers they had dispatched upon their arrival the Kodiak descended before them with its boarding hatch open and waiting. Kallux jumped up into the shuttle, causing it to shake slightly from his weight, before turning and offering a hand to Eleena and Will. As he climbed in, Will turned back to the look through the open door the hallway, only to see that Corsin had not caught up to them. He glanced down to the timer on his wrist and felt his heart jump. Thirty-two seconds remained.

"_Just about have it," _the Spectre's voice reported over the comm. _"Tyrixis, can you hear me?"_

The doctor's voice chimed in. _"Yes, what's your status? I'm dealing with these injuries and haven't been-"_

Corsin interrupted her._"Do me a favor, would you? Tell father I'm sorry for not returning his messages a few months ago." _There was a short pause as his attention seemed to turn away from the comm. _"There, detonation sequence set."_

Will looked down to his omnitool. The timer was at eleven seconds. "Shansa, get us out!"

"_Corsin?" _Tyrixis seemed more confused that concerned.

Shansa complied without question and threw the thrusters into full gear. The Kodiak blasted up and away from the landing pad, throwing Will, Eleena and Kallux off balance and forcing them to grab the railings that lined the ceiling to balance themselves.

"_Sorry, gotta go. I... love you, Ty."_

Will, Eleena and Kallux stared out the side hatch as far below them on the surface of Lorek a brilliant flash lit up the night sky.


	21. Chapter 21

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 21**

_**Miarin Mountain Range, Lorek**_

The Kodiak shook as the shock wave finally caught up with the speeding shuttle.

"Keelah! What happened?!" Tul'Sorrin shouted from the cockpit. "The entire plateau is gone!"

Will swallowed hard and looked to the squad status on the left of his HUD. Corsin's indicator had changed to a placeholder reading, "No data available." He raised his wrist and activated his omnitool to bring up the comm channel settings. Corsin's node was no longer receiving or transmitting data.

"_Corsin? What in the hell is wrong with you?"_ Tyrixis's voice was growing worried.

Eleena pulled off her helmet and clenched her fist. "Goddess..."

Kallux reached for the door controls and shut the hatch as Will stepped back, barely holding back his utter panic.

Tul'Sorrin jumped through the doorway to the cabin. "I'm not getting any readings from Agent Rent-" He froze and stared Will, Kallux and Eleena down. "Where... where's Corsin?"

The trio exchanged silent looks. Will shook his head slowly and looked back to Tul, his breathing labored from shock.

The quarian took at step back. "Oh... oh no... are you sure that..?"

Kallux nodded grimly. Shansa, who had been listening closely, peered over her shoulder with wide eyes and a slightly-open lips. Tyrixis sounded in Will's ear once again.

"_Corsin? Are you-"_

"Tyrixis, we... we'll be back at the ship in a minute," Will interrupted.

"_That doesn't answer my question," _she reiterated.

Will looked down to the floor. "We'll see you in the shuttle bay." He pulled off his helmet and let it fall to the floor.

Eleena raised a hand to cover her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "That son of a bitch... he could have run with us!"

Kallux looked to her and shook his head gently. "No, he couldn't have. You know that."

The asari let her hand fall as she dropped to one to the seats. The others stood in silence as Shansa guided the Kodiak smoothly through the winding valleys of the Miarin mountain range. A couple of minutes later she slowed the shuttle to a hovering stop while waiting for outer cargo doors of the _Hyperion _to open. Tul had leaned his back to the wall, Kallux and Will stood in the center of the cabin, and Eleena remained on the bench, all of them lost in thought. After docking, Shansa stood from the pilot's seat and stepped out of the cockpit with a look of dread on her face.

"We're docked," she said gently.

Will nodded in acknowledgment and reached for the door controls. As the hatch slid open they were met by Vayren and Tyrixis standing a few feet from the shuttle, clearly anxious. The turian had stripped the armor from her hands and arms at some point, replacing them with medical gloves that were stained with wet asari blood. Will stepped up to the center of the doorway and tried his best to meet the doctor's eye.

"Where is Corsin?" Tyrixis asked immediately.

"He..." Will trailed off and shook his head, searching for words.

"He didn't make it," Kallux finished. "He stayed behind to keep Antarian from starting another war."

Tyrixis managed to remain visually stoic save for a small twitching of her mandibles. "He 'stayed behind?'" She repeated quietly.

Will nodded as he answered, finally able to form a sentence. "We got their plan out of Russon, but there was no time. Corsin made the decision before we even realized there was one to be made..."

Every eye in the room had fallen on Tyrixis. After a few moments the turian's eyes fluttered gently as she nodded in response.

"I see," the doctor finally spoke. "T'lees is still in need of my attention. Please... e-excuse me."

The crew watched as she turned and walked briskly to the forward hall. Vayren turned his attention back to Will and shifted his weight around on his now bandaged leg.

"Captain, we need to have a debriefing," the salarian declared solemnly.

Will dropped to the floor and nodded. "In a bit, sure. I have to make sure Tyrixis is okay." He glanced back over his shoulder to the others. "Everyone send us your omnitool mission data."

The squad filed out of the Kodiak as Will stepped up beside Vayren.

"We'll need to contact the Council," the Spectre added.

Will looked to Shansa as she stepped out of the shuttle. "Shan, get us to a comm buoy."

She nodded quietly and hurried off toward the cockpit as Will turned his attention to Tul, Kallux and Eleena.

"I will be in the crew's quarters," Vayren informed them.

"What should we do?" Tul'Sorrin inquired.

"Just... relax for a bit. Might not have the chance for a while." Will lowered his voice. "I'm going to check on the doctor."

Will turned and made his way to the forward hall, loathing to the forthcoming conversation. He looked into the bunkroom to see Tyrixis in a seat beside one of the lower bunks. She held a small medical device and scanned over what looked like a still unconscious asari. Will stepped into the room and quietly walked up behind the turian.

"Hey, Doctor." Will came to a stop just over her shoulder.

Tyrixis lowered her instrument and glanced over to the human. "Captain."

Though it was hard to discern feeling or emotion from the turian face, Will could see the pain in Tyrixis's eyes. It was apparent in her voice as well. While she was normally firm and commanding in her words, now she was soft and reluctant. He swallowed hard and shifted his attention to T'lees as she lay in bed with a thick bandage wrapped around the left side of her head.

"How is she?" Will asked.

Tyrixis looked back to her patient. "I was just running a few scans. Her condition is... not optimal. But it could be much worse."

"'Not optimal?'" He repeated worriedly.

"Her barriers absorbed most of the detonation, but the blast was in a very close proximity," the doctor explained. "Shrapnel from the grenade as well as her destroyed helmet caused the majority of her injuries." Tyrixis motioned toward the bandages. "Unfortunately, she will not regain sight in her left eye."

Will's jaw sunk in shock. "Are you sure?"

The doctor nodded solemnly. "Virtually all of the optic nerves, tissues and the eye itself were damaged severely. There's nothing I can do for her with traditional medicine."

"We can get her to a med center," he offered immediately.

Tyrixis shook her head. "Unfortunately, optical injuries of this magnitude are far more delicate and difficult to repair than those of most organs." She looked back to Will. "It would take months or years of precise regenerative therapy and a small fortune to repair the damage she has suffered. I have cleaned and dressed the wound. Now it will just have to heal."

Will closed his eyes for a moment. He had hoped to use the doctor's work on T'lees as a lighter conversation starter before moving on to the rough topic. So far, things were not working out the way he had planned.

"What about Vayren?" He asked.

"His condition is incomparably better," Tyrixis answered to Will's relief. "His leg will be fine within a day."

Will nodded thankfully. "Good, good." He stepped to the side and knelt by the bunks so that she would not have to turn to face him. "What about you, Doctor? You don't seem to be reacting to..."

The turian averted her eyes momentarily. "I..." She looked back to him. "I'm not sure what I feel. I haven't had much time to think. I only just finished removing the last of the shrapnel from T'lees."

"That's... impressive." Will cursed himself as he attempted to correct his phrasing. "I mean, it's admirable that you can focus so intently on your work."

"It comes from decades of field work," Tyrixis explained as she reached down to set her medical device into her bag. "One gets used to the frequent death of comrades. A doctor must be able to function despite emotional bearings."

Will frowned softly. "This wasn't just a comrade, Tyrixis."

The doctor sat up and nodded slowly. "I'm aware, Captain."

He watched her in silence for a few moments. "I know you two didn't always get along... but he died saving thousands of lives. That's how you should remember him."

"Remember him..." Tyrixis stared straight ahead before raising a hand to cover her mouth and letting out a distraught gasp. "Oh..."

She shuttered and shook her head slowly. Will could see in her eyes that the reality of the situation was finally catching up to her.

"That's all I have now... isn't it." She mumbled weakly. "Memories?" The turian grasped her face in her palms and leaned forward. " Oh, spirits!"

Will stood and quickly placed a hand on her still armored shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. The turian looked up with visible moisture forming at the base of her eyes.

"Please, Captain," she objected with a small weep. "I... I wish to be alone."

Will shook his head in objection. "Tyrixis, I can sit with you. We can talk about-"

"No," she said firmly. "I'm sorry, Captain Hume, but we do not... know each other. Not well enough for that. I wish to be _alone_."

He slowly pulled his hand from her and let it drop to his side.

"I- I meant no harm," Tyrixis added, her voice barely holding. "I appreciate your offer of kindness, but I..." She shook her head once again and let her head fall back into her hands. "Please. Leave me."

As much as Will would have liked to help, he knew that he could not force consolation upon her. "If you decide you want to talk," he let himself trail off.

"Thank you," she said between quiet sobs. "I will... remember that."

Will forced himself to step away, watching her until the last possible moment before turning to walk through the door and into the hall. He tapped the panel as he exited and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Over the next hour Will and Vayren worked alone in the crew's quarters combing through the data they had collected from the team. After Will had explained the circumstances of Corsin's sacrifice, the salarian was determined to find a fault or error in their execution of the mission. A mission resulting in two severe injuries and a death was a staggering change of pace from their normal but short operating history.

"I was wrong," Vayren finally relented.

Will nodded. "I told you... there's nothing we could have done."

The salarian looked up and shook his head. "No, I mean I was wrong in suggesting such a stupid and reckless mission plan." He looked back down to his holopad and began reading over data he had already investigated twice. "We should have prepared. We should have known what we were getting into."

"Come on, Vayren." Will sat back and crossed his arms. "If we hadn't gone in when we did that launch would have gone off just like Antarian wanted."

"You don't know that," the Spectre countered. "They might have expedited their mission after we began our attack."

Will looked across the small dining table to where Vayren sat staring back to him. "Or, it might have been right on schedule. All we know is what we saw. There's no point in making speculations that we have no evidence to support."

The salarian looked down to the table and let out a defeated sigh as he resumed tapping away at his holopad. Will sat nearly motionless, his chest rising and falling beneath his crossed arms. The only sounds to accompany them were those of the ship. Just as the silence began to grow unsettling, Vayren shifted his gaze back up to Will.

"I've finished my preliminary report," he said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I'm sending an audience request to the Council."

Will pushed himself up and began to stand. "I'll get out of your hair then. Well, not hair. You know what I mean."

Vayren raised a hand and ushered Will to sit. "Please, Captain Hume, I would appreciate it if you stayed. I will do most of the talking, but you were the last of the crew to see Agent Rentarius alive and the Council may wish to question you."

"'Agent Rentarius,' right," Will let a tiny smirk spread onto his lips. "We knew each other for less than a month and I was on a first name basis with a _Spectre. _Never saw that coming."

The salarian remained silent for a moment. "Are you ready?"

The smile faded from Will's lips. "Yeah. I guess."

"Good." Vayren looked down at his tablet. "They're ready for us."

Vayren entered a few commands on his holopad and set it at the center of the table as Will cleared his throat and straightened himself his chair. He took a deep, calming breath as the tablet pinged softly and the image of the three members of the Citadel Council materialized out of blue static. The Councilors appeared only about six inches tall from the small projector in Vayren's holopad.

"_Agent Vayren,"_ Councilor Tevos acknowledged.

"Yes, hello, Councilors." Vayren bowed his head to them quickly.

"_And a new face," _the asari continued.

The Spectre nodded once again. "This is Captain William Hume. He leads the crew that has provided transport and fire support during our hunt for Narenthus Antarian. I believe Agent Rentarius and I have mentioned them extensively in our reports."

"_Ah. Yes." _Councilor Valern seemed unfazed. _"Speaking of Agent Rentarius, will he be joining us? There are a few discrepancies in his most recent after-action report that I wish to discuss with him."_

There was a short pause.

"Unfortunately, that won't be possible," Vayren said slowly. "Regrettably, the purpose of my call is to inform you all that Agent Rentarius was killed approximately two hours ago while preventing a missile strike that would have instigated war on the planet of Lorek. As I'm sure you have gathered, this was part of a plan put in place by Narenthus Antarian." His eyes shifted in a nervousness that Will had not seen from the salarian. "I... have sent my preliminary report on the action."

Councilor Tevos lowered her eyes slightly. _"That is very unfortunate news. Agent Rentarius was a loyal agent of the Council for over two decades."_ She drew a breath and raised her chin. _"His skill and experience will be greatly missed."_

Will bit his tongue upon hearing the suggestion that the most significant loss was Corsin's 'skill and experience.'

"_This does not bode well for your mission," _Valern added.

Vayren leaned forward. "Councilors, I assure you that we are in fact closer to apprehending Narenthus Antarian than we have ever been. The data we recovered from this latest action may very well be the last bit we need to complete our pursuit."

"_While I sincerely hope that is true, we have yet to see the evidence of such claims that you have made in the past,"_ Sparatus argued.

Will decided it was time to speak. "Excuse me... if I may interject." He shrugged his shoulder slightly. "I agree with Agent Vayren. Things might look bad from where you're standing, but we're close to finishing this, I promise you." Will nodded across the table to the Spectre. "And keep in mind, I'm just some merc captain. I don't have any kinda reputation to maintain with you or a mission record to keep clean."

The three Councilors exchanged speculative glances before Tevos turned her eyes forward once again. _"Very well, but you must consider this the limit of our faith, Agent Vayren. If this mission is not completed soon, we will be forced to intervene."_

Vayren tilted his head in confusion. "Intervene?"

"_If necessary, yes. Be that removing you from the assignment, sending another agent to assist, or both." _Tevos nodded firmly. _"Now, if there is nothing else, the Council has other matters to attend to. We will read over your report and summon you if we have any further questions."_

"Yes, of course," Vayren nodded understandingly. "I will submit my full report within the next standard day."

"_Thank you. Good luck, Agent Vayren. I sincerely hope for better news the next time we speak."_

After waiting just a few seconds in case there were any unmentioned issues, Tevos reached forward and terminated the call. Vayren reached forward to retrieve his holopad and looked up to Will.

"We need to search the omnitool data that Corsin was able to recover from Russon," Vayren declared.

"I'll send Tul'Sorrin over," Will answered as he stood. "I need to check up on everyone."

The salarian nodded, but had already turned his attention back to his tablet. "That would be wise. If you could, please assure them that this is by no means the end of our mission."

Will turned for the doorway. "I'll do that," he mentioned.

He unlocked the door and stepped into the forward hall where the sound of hushed voices to his left caught his attention. Will turned to see Shansa and Tul'Sorrin sitting in the cockpit, talking and nodding to one another. As he approached them and leaned on the bulkhead, Shansa looked over with a small frown.

"How'd it go?" She asked ruefully.

He shrugged lightly. "Fine, all things considered." Will glanced to the quarian. "Vayren wants your help with the data we got off of Russon."

Tul pulled himself to his feet. "We'll finish later," he said to Shansa.

The pilot sighed and nodded in agreement. "Sure."

Will stepped aside as the quarian exited the cockpit and hurried into the crew's quarters where Vayren was waiting. He turned back to Shansa and felt a tinge of pain in his heart as he saw the sadness on her face.

"Tul and I were listening in on the comm," she said quietly. "He feels terrible."

"Who? Tul?" Will raised a brow. "Why?"

Shansa shook her head. "He thinks he should have been there with you. He's convinced he could have finished the hack faster and gotten out with you."

Will crossed his arms. "Vayren tried to blame himself too."

"I told him he was being ridiculous," Shansa said agreeably.

They fell silent. After a few seconds, Will reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She rested her hand on his for a moment before looking back to the control console to check over her instruments.

"I'll be back in a few if you want to talk," Will mentioned as he stepped away from the cockpit.

Shansa nodded to herself, but continued her work on the flight controls. "No rush... we've got time to drift."

As Will walked down the hall he could hear Vayren and Tul talking to one another in the crew's quarters as they began parsing through the data. Will took in a deep breath and continued on toward the cargo bay. He still had more people to see. As he stepped through the door into the cargo bay, which was now more hangar than anything, he looked over to see Kallux standing at his workbench, as always. He blinked in surprise when he realized that the krogan was not wearing his silver torso armor, but instead a nondescript replacement of dull black. Will made his way to the krogan and placed his hands on the workbench as he stepped up beside him.

"How are the others doing?" Kallux asked as Will approached.

Will let out a small sigh. "Well enough, I guess."

"Damn shame," the krogan said. "I actually liked that turian."

"Yeah," Will nodded slowly. "Me too."

"He was a good man," Kallux added. "A Spectre out in the Terminus Systems. He didn't owe anything to those people on Lorek, but he died to save them." The krogan shook his head slowly. "He must have been forced to make decisions like that before. You don't go two decades as a Spectre without a few hard choices. But _this _was the one that he went out on." Kallux looked over to Will and shrugged. "Why?"

Will looked down to the floor. "Like you said, he was a good man. That or maybe he just couldn't stand the thought of Antarian winning."

"True enough," Kallux admitted. "Gonna be a lot less cocky around here without him."

"Heh." Will couldn't help but smile softly. "We'll see. I'd rather not think about that until this is over, though."

The krogan gave him a sideways glance. "We are gonna finish this, right?"

Will put on a mock-offended face. "Who the hell are you talking to?"

"Sorry," Kallux chuckled deeply. "Just wanted to make sure you weren't getting cold feet."

After a short pause, Will cleared his throat. "I mean, you do think we can finish this, right? We can't take another mission like that..."

The krogan nodded in agreement. "You're right. But if Vayren and Tul find what they're looking for, it might only take one more. All we've gotta do is survive longer than they do."

Will frowned and looked down to the deck. Now that they had actually fought Antarian's men he could see that the crew's mortality was at a far greater risk than it had ever been. Barring perhaps their tangle with Project Sommesh. He looked down to see the chestplate that Kallux normally wore laying on the workbench before them. It had suffered a severe hit from Russon's shotgun during their attack, leaving a least a dozen puncture holes. The insignia of the Red Moon Collective that was displayed proudly at the center of his chestplate, a red circle with three silver craters in the lower left quadrant, had received at least half of the shotgun pellets. Dried blood that had seeped from Kallux's already recovering chest wounds left stains across the logo.

"Took a bit of a beating," Will mentioned as he looked the armor over.

"Just a bit," Kallux agreed jokingly. "I'm working on getting the under-weaving back in decent shape. I'll have to get the armor itself done on Omega."

Will let out a small chuckle. "Kallux, have I ever told you how goddamn lucky we are to have you carrying all the extra weight on this crew?"

The krogan grinned as he flipped the armor over and continued to examine it. "There's no extra weight around here, Hume. Everyone's got a place, and they all fit it well."

"You keep saying that, but we wouldn't be able to do... pretty much any of what we do if didn't have you around," Will argued.

Kallux ran his hand over the torn under-weaving of his armor. The grin on his face slowly began to fade.

Will raised a brow. "Something wrong?"

The krogan flipped the armor back over as he looked over to Will. "You remember all that thinking I did on the Citadel?"

"Sure."

Kallux turned to face him. "Well, it brought me to a realization." The krogan paused for a long moment. "The Red Moon Collective has been passive for too long. It's time someone stepped up and put the organization to good use."

Will furrowed his brow. "Meaning..."

"I mean, the Collective needs a leader and a direction. Right now it's nothing more than a mailing list." Kallux crossed his arms. "We do good by ourselves. But a unified RMC? It could do a lot more." He looked over the bloodied emblem on his chestplate. "I've already spoken to most of the other long-standing members and they agree. After we finish our mission to capture Antarian, I'll be taking up command and directing the RMC into a more organized and active entity."

Will nodded. "That sounds like something I can get behind."

Kallux smirked. "Don't speak so soon. In doing so... I'm afraid I'll have to step down from my position on your crew."

"Goddamn, Kallux," Will shook his head with a small laugh and placed his hand over his mouth for a moment. "Could you have picked a worse time to tell me this?"

The krogan frowned worryingly. "I'm sorry. Truly. I'd hoped to tell you earlier, but we just haven't had the time."

Will leaned back against the workbench and let out a sigh. "Well, that's not _good _news for us." He glanced over to the krogan and managed a small smile. "That said, I think if things work out you could do a lot of good."

Kallux smiled warmly. "I appreciate that, Hume. We haven't worked out the details yet, but I want a group of advisers to help with the organization." He nodded to Will. "I'd like you to be part of it."

"Woah, an adviser?" Will let out a small laugh. "Just because you want off this boat doesn't mean I do."

"Relax," the krogan said. "Just the occasional vid conference will suffice. After all, I need to know I've got someone I can count on in the field."

Will tilted his head curiously. "Where did this come from, Kallux?"

He let out a sigh. "A few places, I suppose. The most significant was seeing Taxalur again. I don't think I've been striving to reach what he thought I could be."

"You're already doing a hell of a lot," Will reminded him.

Kallux shrugged. "Not enough for me." He glanced to Will and gave him a reassuring slap on the shoulder. "We don't need to linger on this now. We've still got business to take care of."

Will gave him a small nod. "And you've got armor to patch back together."

The krogan grinned and looked back to the chestplate. "That I do."

Will stepped away and turned for the far end of the cargo bay. His eyes were growing heavy due to the lack of sleep he had endured the past few days. He approached the door of the engine room and curiously leaned his head inside. After seeing no one in the center room, he looked to the small passageway that led to the starboard engine and smiled to see Eleena leaning against one of the walls. Her arms were crossed and her eyes closed as she leaned her head back. Will walked quietly to the entrance of the passage and put an arm against one of the walls for support.

"Tired?"

The asari's lips curled into a tiny smile. "Yeah. You?"

"Exhausted," he answered.

Will slid into the passageway to stand at her side, leaning his back against the wall with her.

Eleena opened her eyes and looked over to him. "Do we know where we're headed next?"

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Good." She let out a sigh. "It'd do everyone good to have a little downtime."

"As much as we can spare." Will closed his eyes. "Damn... I really fucked that one up."

Eleena scoffed. "Goddess, Will, you _know_ that you did everything you could. It could've gone a lot worse."

In truth, he did know. He just wanted to hear it from someone else.

"Thanks," he said hollowly.

"How are the wounded?" Eleena asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Vayren will be back to normal in a day or so," Will answered. "T'lees..."

"She looked bad," the asari noted as he trailed off.

"Yeah. Bad." Will opened his eyes and shook his head. "Tyrixis says she'll lose the eye."

Eleena exhaled in shock and muttered under her breath. "Fuck."

"My thoughts exactly," he replied.

"Speaking of Tyrixis..."

Will let out an exasperated sigh and raised a hand to run through is hair. "She just wants to be alone. I tried to help her, talk to her, but she just didn't want it."

As his hand fell back to his side, Eleena's hand found it and laced their fingers. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and shut her eyes.

"I'm sorry for the questions. You probably came in here to get away from that shit."

Will did his best to smile. "I came in here looking for someone, not to get away from anything."

"Well, I'm here," she said quietly.

He nodded to himself. "Good. I really need you right now."

Will and Eleena let their eyelids sink shut with nothing but the noise of the engine room between them. Their entwined fingers gripped ever-so-slightly tighter together.


	22. Chapter 22

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 22**

_**MSV Hyperion, Sahrabarik System, Omega Nebula**_

"Should only be about twenty more minutes," Shansa informed Will. "We were running pretty low there... I usually like to refuel a lot sooner than this."

He leaned back in the co-pilot's seat. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure we got to Lorek in time."

She nodded understandingly. "It's no biggie." Shansa gave him a small smile. "If I didn't think we'd make it, I would've said something."

The past twelve hours had gone by excruciatingly slow. Will had managed to sleep for a few hours, but restlessness and anxiety had forced him out of bed long before he would have liked. Since then, he had wandered the ship as Shansa piloted them back to the fuel depot near Omega. The rest of the crew seemed capable of passing the time easier. Tul and Vayren were hard at work digging through caches from Russon's omnitool in an attempt to locate what they needed. The last time Will had checked up on them they were writing a program to help with a mass decryption of reassembled data pockets.

"_Captain?"_

Will looked down to his omnitool. "I hear you, doctor."

Tyrixis sounded drained in every possible sense of the word. _"T'lees is awake, if you'd like to speak with her. I've brought her up to speed on everything since... well, since she was injured."_

"I'll be right there." Will pulled himself to his feet and looked to Shansa. "Give me a shout when we're done fueling up?"

The pilot nodded. "You bet."

He ducked through the door and made his way to the bunkroom. As he stepped through the door he saw T'lees sitting in a chair beside her bunk. Tyrixis knelt at her side, scanning the still-bandaged asari with her omnitool.

T'lees fluttered her eye not covered by medical wrap and looked up to Will. "Captain Hume..."

Will stopped a few feet in front of her. "Hey... Fayneer." He put on a reluctant smile. "I'm glad you're awake."

"I wish I could say the same," the asari replied weakly as she raised a hand placed it on her aching head. "The doctor has informed me of my condition." Her held her lips tightly in what looked like an attempt to put on a brave face.

He looked over to the turian. "Were there any changes since the last time I was here?"

Tyrixis shook her head once. "No."

The doctor's omnitool flickered as it applied another dose of pain relief medi-gel. T'lees drew and exhaled a deep, satisfied breath as her hand lowered back to her side.

"T'lees..." Will let out a sigh. "_Fayneer._ I'm sorry about this."

There was a short silence before T'lees responded.

"Don't apologize," the asari said quietly. "The only person who deserves blame is Narenthus Antarian. And perhaps the soldier who threw that grenade."

"He's dead," Will said quickly.

T'lees smirked lightly and nodded to herself. "I assumed as much."

Will looked down. "Either way... I don't think that's entirely true. If I had been faster-"

"I do not want to argue this," she interrupted. "What I _do_ want is to make Antarian pay the price for his misdeeds. I want him dead. I _thought_ he had taken everything that mattered from me; now I see how dismally wrong I was."

Tyrixis let out sound that resembled a hiss. "Death is not enough for him. I want him to suffer."

Will looked between the two and tried his best to understand how they felt. "I know you're both hurt right now, but our mission is to _capture_ Antarian. Not murder him."

"He doesn't deserve the mercy of captivity," the turian countered, her voice dripping with venomous disgust.

"This isn't about what he deserves." Will crossed his arms. "We have a job to do."

T'lees let out a small sigh. "Yes, of course." She looked back up to Will. "And I do not wish to jeopardize our arrangement."

He nodded in agreement and looked over to Tyrixis. "Doctor?"

She gave him a sideways glance and stood up, having finished her medical work. "Ms. T'lees, I suggest that you rest for now. The medi-gel will finish sealing the wounds within an hour or two. I will be back to check your bandages then."

The turian turned and walked briskly from the room as Will and T'lees watched. He turned back to the asari and frowned.

T'lees looked to Will. "She told me that Agent Rentarius... Corsin... was killed." There was clear anxiety in her tone.

"I'll hold up our end of the deal," Will quietly assured her. "Assuming you hold up yours."

The asari nodded gratefully. "Thank you. I was worried that Agent Rentarius was the only member of the crew who would ensure it."

"I can't issue a pardon, but I think Vayren will be more inclined to believe that you're earnestly trying to help now that you've quite literally taken one for the team."

T'lees frowned and furrowed her brow. "I... I'm sorry?"

Will shook his head. "Sorry. Cynical humor is how I manage sometimes."

"I see." She shrugged softly. "It must be a human thing."

"Na, it's just _not_ a Thessian thing," Eleena corrected with a smirk as she walked in.

"Huh?" Will glanced over his shoulder as she approached, feeling as though he had missed something.

Eleena motioned toward the injured asari. "She's got a pretty thick Armali accent." She nodded toward T'lees. "That's where you're from, right?"

T'lees nodded slowly. "That's correct."

"Pretty upper-class, too," Eleena observed as she looked to Will. "And since she was the big boss around those factories, she's probably not used to your kind of wise-cracking directed toward her."

"I..." T'lees stuttered and shook her head.

Eleena turned her attention to Will. "I think Vayren and Tul have something promising. Might wanna check it out."

He nodded. "Thanks, I will." He looked down to T'lees. "Are you gonna be okay for now?"

The injured asari raised a hand and rested it gently against her bandages. She winced softly but nodded in affirmation.

"Yes... yes, I'll be fine. I will rest for a while, as Doctor Rentarius suggested." She looked up to the pair before her. "Thank you for your concern, Captain Hume."

Will held his eyes on her for a moment. "Sure."

He turned with Eleena as she made her way to the doorway and followed on her heels. They stepped through the hall and into the open door of the crew's quarters where Tul sat at the dining table with Vayren leaning over his shoulder. The salarian looked to the side and waved over Will and Eleena as they entered.

"I hear you two are onto something," Will announced as he stopped at Tul's side.

"Hopefully," Tul'Sorrin answered as he worked at his datapad. "I'm running the decryption pass now."

Eleena crossed her arms. "Which is?"

"Russon's omnitool synced a large amount of temporary data with the VI of whatever ship was used to shuttle him around," Vayren explained. "We were able to recover some data from the recycled cache. A set of planetary coordinates was referenced multiple times as the 'seat.'"

"Antarian's base of operations?" Will suggested.

"That's what we hope," the Spectre answered. "But coordinates are only half of what we need."

"I'm guessing a planetary _name_ is the other half," Eleena said with a smirk.

"How insightful," Tul quipped. "That's right. But there is no record to indicate which one these coordinates might be referencing. If there was, the data is corrupted beyond recovery. However, we did find references to auto-pilot courses set to and from mass relays. The two used most recently were the Caleston One relay, which connects to the Omega Nebula, and the Sankrin relay, which is located in the Nubian Expanse and connects to the Caleston Three relay. Before that, there was a four day dormancy of relay use."

Eleena nodded in understanding. "So they used the Sankrin then Caleston One to deliver them to Omega. Does that mean they originated from the Nubian Expanse?"

"So it would seem," Vayren affirmed. "And the Nubian Expanse has only two planets capable of supporting life."

Will stared down at the datapad. "Pragia and Yamm," he read aloud.

Eleena looked to Vayren. "What now? Check both planets?"

"We could," Will interjected as he continued to read. "But they seem different enough. Why not ask the person who's been there?"

"You are assuming that this 'seat' and Antarian's personal villa are one in the same," Vayren countered.

Will nodded in agreement. "Call it a hunch. I have an idea."

"I'll get her." Eleena stepped over to the door and leaned through toward the bunkroom on the opposite side of the hall. "Hey, T'lees, get out of bed. We need some help in here," she called, unsympathetically.

Will gave the asari a smirk. "She _is_ recovering from a serious injury, you know."

Eleena walked back over and shrugged. "She'll live."

"So the doctor says." Will watched the door.

A few seconds later, T'lees placed her hand on the doorway and stepped through slowly. It seemed as though she was working to maintain her balance as she crossed the room to the others and looked around curiously. Her hand instinctively rose to rest on her bandages once again to ensure they were properly in place.

She offered a weak smile and looked to them expectantly. "You called?"

Will nodded and turned to face her. "Describe Antarian's villa... estate... whatever he called it, for me."

T'lees blinked, slightly confused. "What about it?"

"Everything you can remember," he replied.

"Alright." She looked to the side as she thought intently on where to start. "It was large, of course. I remember the ship that brought me to the complex landed on the planet itself and the descent was beautiful. Most of the surface was oceanic and the little green islands made it unforgettable. He met me when we landed and brought me on a very short skycar trip to the villa."

"How short?" Vayren inquired.

"It could not have been more than a minute," she answered while turning back to them. Her voice was slow and tone deliberate, as though she was working carefully to form each word. "From what I could see through the windows, it appeared as though the landing pad was simply on the opposite side of the facility from Antarian's personal domicile. We could have walked there in a few minutes."

The Spectre nodded. "I see. Continue."

"After the landing, I was treated to a meal over which Antarian and I discussed business. Or, to be more accurate, I was _highly encouraged_ to transfer control of my business assets to him while maintaining a facade of personal control."

Eleena raised a brow. "'Highly encouraged?'"

T'lees gave her a bitter smile. "I have had a standing arrest warrant with the Thessian government for quite some time. Apparently he found out about it."

"Why even keep you in the picture at all?" Will asked with a hint of suspicion.

"Antarian made only a small portion of his business ventures publicly known," T'lees responded. "He made it very clear that he would control my manufactories, but also that I should not let anyone else know that I had been usurped. 'Continue living your life as normal,' he ordered me. Then, a few weeks later, his ships began showing up to retrieve my goods." She shrugged. "I also had to replace my entire accounting department with _his_ people."

Vayren cleared his throat. "The villa?" he reminded her.

"Yes, my apologies." The asari crossed her arms. "After dinner I was led to my room. It was nice enough, but I spent most of the night out on the seaside balcony. As you can imagine, being blackmailed and losing everything I had was not easy to bear, but being near the water reminded me of my old home on Thessia. Being so close to the sea was comforting. It reminded me of when I was a child."

Will narrowed his eyes slightly. "What else struck you about the planet itself?"

"The night was long. Too long. A full standard day passed before the sun rose again and I was shuttled back to the ship to be taken home." T'lees shook her head irritably. "And it was hot. Almost too hot for me to enjoy the ocean the way I once did back on Thessia. My scalp felt like sandpaper by the time I left. The vegetation was beautiful, though, despite the heat. Well, at least the vegetation that grew in the region around Antarian's estate."

"Is there anything else you remember?" Will tilted his head hopefully.

"I... no. I'm sorry, it is just a little hard to concentrate at the moment," she answered slowly.

Tul glanced over his shoulder. "Captain. Take a look at this."

Will turned and placed a hand on the table beside the quarian as his eyes scanned the holopad. Tul had the travel advisory information for Yamm on the screen with that of Pragia minimized. His lips curled into a hopeful grin as he read down the list.

"Ninety-percent ocean," he muttered to himself, "and nearly a seventy-hour solar cycle. Above average surface temperatures."

Vayren, who had stepped up to Tul's other side to read, looked over to Will. "It's far from definitive."

"But nothing T'lees said matched Pragia," Tul countered. "Except for the surface temperature." Tul leaned forward and tapped the screen. "Wait a minute. The ship Antarian used when he confronted us on Nedius, he said we would face the guns of the... '_Pride of Kalabsha,_' right?"

Eleena chuckled and shrugged. "Maybe? I have no idea. How did you remember that?"

"Because this rang a bell," the quarian answered as he tapped the screen. "Yamm is in the Kalabsha System."

Vayren let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "Fine, fine. I suppose that's enough evidence to eliminate a reasonable doubt."

T'lees looked around the room. "Do you require anything else? I'm afraid I feel a bit lightheaded..."

Will turned and walked up to the asari. "That's all we need, but I'm sure we'll have more questions before long. Until then, get some rest." He smiled appreciatively. "And, thank you."

Her eye fluttered gently. "Of course."

T'lees slowly spun and made her way through the door with cautious steps. Will raised his omnitool to activate his comm.

"Shan, how's the refueling coming along?"

"_Be done in a minute or two,"_ she replied.

Will looked to the others with a smile. "Plot a course for Yamm. Kalabsha System, Nubian Expanse."

* * *

Once underway, Will informed the crew of their destination over the ship-wide comms and was met with no objections. Tul and Vayren jumped immediately into gathering intel on Yamm, only for Will to object and order them to get at least a few hours of sleep. As they reluctantly agreed, the rest of the crew took note and did the same. Shansa was the last to retire, as she had to stay at the helm and guide the _Hyperion _through the relays and into the Nubian Expanse.

Will's five hours of sleep were intermittent at best, and he eventually decided to walk the ship a few times in hopes of luring out drowsiness. He slid from his bunk in his plain, long sleeping shirt and pants and wandered into the forward hall. Will rarely walked the ship barefoot and he could feel the cold metal deck sting at his feet as he turned for the cargo bay. Shansa had lowered the lights throughout the ship before setting off to bed, giving the _Hyperion_ an atmosphere rarely seen now that the crew was large enough to justify leaving the lights at full strength around the clock. As Will stepped through the door to the cargo bay a soft whimper caught his ear. He paused and listened intently until he heard it again, barely audible over the soft hum of the ship's engines. Will turned to the left and squinted. He rarely looked to the forward starboard corner for the cargo bay, as it was almost always empty, but this time he saw a figure sitting with her back against the wall.

"T'lees?"

The asari jumped in place and jerked her head to the side, wincing in pain as she did so. "Oh! Captain Hume... you startled me."

Will approached her and put on an ambassadorial smile. "Sorry. I wasn't sure it was you."

"I suppose I'm not a threat anymore." She looked back down to her lap.

"Huh?" He raised a brow as he came to a stop a few feet away.

"I don't require a watcher at all times now, it seems," T'lees explained.

"Oh, right." Will let out a sigh. "I think that went out the window when everything went tits-up on Lorek."

She looked up with a bewildered expression. "My translator must have malfunctioned."

He blinked and thought back before chuckling softly. "It sounds like Tul has more work to do on that colloquialism algorithm. I meant to say, 'when things went bad.'"

T'lees eyed him curiously as she nodded understandingly. "I see."

It was difficult to see in the dim light, but Will noticed a gentle glimmer under the asari's right eye. He knelt at her side before turned and sitting up against the wall beside her.

"You alright, Fayneer?"

The asari raised a hand and quickly brushed the moisture from her cheek. "The pain is... rather severe."

Will glanced over to her with a frown. "I thought the doctor said your wounds were nearly healed over."

"Yes, I can feel that they are indeed sealed." She raised her hand and gently felt at the bandaged side of her head. "The medi-gel has done what it can, but Doctor Rentarius has told me that it will take weeks or months before the body realizes it no longer needs to use pain to alert me of..." T'lees trailed off and winced once again. "Well, this." She let her hand fall from the bandage.

"I see." Will looked back ahead. "If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

The asari smiled weakly to herself. "You are a good man, Captain Hume."

"I hope so," he answered. "So, you're from Thessia, huh?"

T'lees smirked softly at the attempt at smalltalk. "That is correct. Your engineer, Eleena... she is quite observant. I could not place _her_ accent, however."

"Heh, well she's from Cyone, but she grew up with her turian father."

"Hmm," she raised a finger to her lips contemplatively. "Interesting."

Will glanced over and looked the asari up and down. "She also said you sounded a bit 'upper-class.'"

T'lees smiled bashfully. "My family was quite wealthy and influential in my youth, yes."

"So what happened?" He crossed his arms as he watched her.

"What happened to what?" she looked over to him and tilted her head.

"If your family was so wealthy and influential, why are you wanted by the Thessian authorities?"

The asari averted her gaze. "It is a long story."

"I'd really like to know." His tone grew slightly more serious. "And I do need to know that I can trust you. Or at least not have to worry about being stabbed in the back."

"I'm not sure I feel up to telling the entire tale in detail, but what I told you when we met is true. I'm not a violent or malicious criminal." She looked back to meet his curious gaze. "I suppose I could manage a condensed explanation."

Will crossed his arms. "I'd appreciate it."

T'lees shifted her gaze up and squinted as she thought in silence for a moment. "I suppose my youth would be the best place to start." Her eyes fell back to his. "I was raised as any asari born of my social status would be. Education on proper etiquette, speech, diplomacy, biotic conditioning and of course all standard academics. What I was not taught much of, however, was the family business. That is, until shortly before it all fell apart. I was one hundred and seventy, I believe, when my mother told me how we had grasped such power and wealth in only a few hundred years. She and her sister had inherited a reasonable amount of wealth from their mother, which they invested in creating the largest illegal arms smuggling and dealing operation in the Athena Nebula."

"Risky business," Will noted.

"It was," she agreed. "Which is why they were found out after only a few hundred years. Shortly before she was arrested, my mother told me everything. When she was taken into custody, she denied my involvement and swore I knew nothing of the operation. I was young enough that they believed her." T'lees paused as she contemplated how to proceed. "My course of action afterward was... unwise. I was aware that over half of the organization had remained undiscovered by the authorities, and I immediately seized control of all that I could. I should have sold all of the assets and put that part of my life to rest, but I was a young maiden, eager for danger and excitement."

Will eyed her closely. "So you kept it," he concluded.

T'lees nodded. "I told myself that I would do it all differently. More convincing business to hide the smuggling behind. The 'best' volus accountants credits could buy." She laughed and shook her head. "Just like a girl of that age to assume she knew better than the mother who was five-hundred years her elder."

"You're obviously not stupid," Will said bluntly. "And you'd only recently been exposed to the... nefarious source of your family's influence. Why even consider it?"

"As I said, I was young, foolhardy and shortsighted," she answered. "For over a century and a half I had had no direction. I was itching to find a purpose; an undertaking, you might say. I leapt at the first one that presented itself." The asari let out a sigh. "Of course, it was only another two and a half centuries before _my_ operations were discovered. Fortunately, one of the few things I had done that my mother and aunt had not was infiltrate the Thessian law enforcement. I was able to flee the system with enough credits and supplies to start from scratch in the Terminus Systems." T'lees shifted her eyes from Will to stare straight ahead. "Fifty years later... here we are."

"You lasted fifty years before they sent someone to capture you?" Will raised a brow. "How thick is the bureaucracy on Thessia?"

She smiled lightly in amusement. "I hid my trail. It is possible my case was inactive and they discovered evidence of my whereabouts by complete happenstance. I suppose you didn't _ask _the commandos after you befriended them?"

"Yeah, guess that question slipped my mind." He looked ahead and leaned back against the wall.

After a short silence, T'lees placed her hands on the deck and pushed herself to her feet with a small grunt of exertion.

"I should try to rest," she said as she looked down to Will. "The pain is not so intense now and I should take advantage of it."

Will glanced up and nodded. "Thanks for opening up, Fayneer. I'm not sure I trust you yet, but... well, we'll see."

"I would not expect you to trust so soon." She bowed her head gently. "And my thanks to you, Captain."

He continued to sit in the corner of the cargo bay as T'lees slowly walked to the door and disappeared into the forward hall, her steps so smooth and deliberate that she seemed to float across the deck. Will shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath, hoping that his restless mind would permit just a little sleep. He tried for a few minutes and was met with no such luck. He finally decided to open his eyes and simply stare at the ceiling. Waiting would have to do for the next few hours.


	23. Chapter 23

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 23**

_**MSV Hyperion, en route to Yamm, Nubian Expanse**_

"Ready to get this started?"

Will glanced over to Vayren as he spoke. The salarian stood beside him, tapping away at the control panel of the holoprojector at the center of the bunkroom. On the other side of the table, the rest of the squad stood waiting. Kallux, Eleena, Shansa and Tul were at the center, eager for the briefing to begin. T'lees stood off to the side with her arms behind her back and hands holding one another in a non-threatening posture. The only person not beside the table was Tyrixis, who leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed slightly. Vayren finished entering his commands and the holoprojector flickered as the image of a largely oceanic planet appeared at the center of the table.

"Yes," the Spectre finally answered as two waypoints appeared on the image.

Will turned his attention back to the others. "Well, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but this may be it."

"I fuckin' hope so," Eleena responded with a smirk.

"As do I," Vayren added. "Given the damage we inflicted upon Antarian's best soldiers, I'd be willing to bet that he won't be on the radar for much longer."

Kallux nodded in agreement. "Any idea where he might disappear to?"

The salarian shook his head. "No. Which is why Yamm might be our last chance at finding him for a long time."

Tul'Sorrin looked over the planet curiously. "So what is our plan? I imagine he won't let us just park our ship in the middle of his compound."

"You're _probably_ right," Will said sarcastically. "Luckily for us, the coordinates we retrieved from Russon's omnitool," he pointed to one of the waypoints, "is only a few dozen kilometers from the port of New Karnak, the colony's capital." He pointed to the other nearby waypoint. "We can dock there."

"That's all well and good, but Antarian was able to track our ship while we were heading to Neidus," Kallux argued. "He might already know we're on our way."

"He might have before," Vayren answered. "But Tul'Sorrin and I implemented a fail-safe."

Will nodded to the quarian, having already been informed a few hours earlier. "Care to explain it to everyone, Tul?"

"Yes, of course." Tul looked to this comrades and cleared his throat. "Normally, shipboard comm arrays do not publicly broadcast information that would identify anything significant about the ship itself. This made me very curious about how Antarian was able to pull our information using only broad-scanning probes. I mentioned this to Agent Vayren, and I found my answer." He looked around to see everyone was still listening intently. "Almost all comm array hardware is hardcoded with certain root passcodes that can allow anyone who has the proper tunneling software and the specific code to reach into your transmission system. Typically, these codes are only known by the manufacturers of the hardware."

"Manufacturers, and Spectres," Vayren continued. "Some manufacturers provide them to us willingly, others are stolen by our agents. The end result is that we have the ability to pull a large amount of data from a ship's onboard systems by simply tapping into their outbound comms. Because these codes are essentially part of the hardware and do not change, Antarian would have easily been able to perform such a root access hack on the _Hyperion. _So long as the comm array was not replaced since he was removed from the Spectres and lost access to new codes."

"And why are you so sure that this is what Antarian did?" T'lees asked from the end of the table.

Vayren smirked. "Because I checked the array's logs and confirmed it."

Will nodded. "So what was the solution? Change the root passcodes?"

Tul shook his head, but responded with excitement. "Unfortunately, that is not possible. However, Vayren and I devised a solution that may work even better. With his help, I wrote a program that intercepts any attempt to enter our system using the root passcode and redirects them to false databanks. If anyone tries the hack, we can feed them any information we desire."

"What would our system respond with now?" Eleena asked curiously.

"We're a large, erratically scheduled freighter that's made numerous deliveries to Yamm in the past," Vayren explained. "At least for the time being. The important factor is that we are not, for those prying in, the _MSV Hyperion_ or even a Guiana Class ship. The latter bit would, of course, be contradicted by a silhouette scan, but Antarian would not we inclined to perform this if he could pull all the information he needed from the ship's databanks."

Will looked between Vayren and Tul. "I've gotta admit, I'm impressed."

"Heh, well once Vayren told me how easy it was for Spectres to get hold of these root passcodes, the problem and solution became fairly obvious." The quarian raised his chin in pride.

Eleena chuckled. "Oh, yeah, it was _completely _obvious."

Will smiled and looked over to Kallux. "Still concerned?"

"If these two say I shouldn't be," the krogan looked to Vayren and Tul, "then no."

"Right then, where was I?" Will looked back to the map. "Oh, right... New Karnak. Our plan is to bring the ship into port and set out in the Kodiak." He reached forward and pointed to a long gorge that ran close to Antarian's waypoint before ending at the sea. "Vayren's convinced that any scanning equipment Antarian has in place will not be able to read the shuttle if we stay down in this ravine. If we unload somewhere near the top of the cliff, it's only a short hike through the jungle to the compound."

Tyrixis finally spoke. "And then?" Her voice was cold and flat.

"We have two objectives," Vayren answered. "Find Antarian and sabotage his possible means of escape. T'lees, what do you remember about where you landed during your visit?"

All eyes shifted to the asari as she looked to Will and Vayren. "It was small. From what I could see through the window of the skycar, there seemed to be only one landing pad large enough for the small ship that delivered me. There were two smaller pads as well, one had a freight shuttle and the other housed the skycar."

Will nodded. "So we've got two vessels that could transport him off planet. How many skycars?"

T'lees shook her head. "I am not sure, but I would assume there are at least a few. It was very secluded, so I imagine he must fly in his supplies from the city."

Vayren let out a contemplative sigh. "This... could be a problem."

"I have an idea," Shansa asserted nervously.

Will raised a brow. "Yeah?"

She nodded with a smile. "If you disable the shuttle and ship, that just leaves the skycars. And they're nowhere near as fast as our Kodiak. If a skycar makes a run for it, I can chase it and take it out. Or at least disable the engines."

"And how would you do that?" Vayren inquired.

The pilot looked over to Kallux. "Well, we'd have to leave the cannon mounted..."

Will crossed his arms. "That's a valuable asset to leave on the sidelines _just in case_."

"Bah." The krogan waved a hand dismissively. "I don't need that bulky, overheating piece of junk to do my job well. Just give me that shotgun you never use, Hume."

"Hey, I'd use it if it didn't have such a kickback," Will argued.

Vayren looked to Shansa. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

She smiled and gave him a confident nod. "I can do it. I'm tired of sitting around on the shuttle while everyone else does all the work!"

"Fair enough." Will looked around the table. "I think we should handle cutting off his escape routes before we even think about moving deeper. Quietly, if possible."

"I agree," Vayren said plainly. "Once that is taken care of, we can move in and find Antarian. The longer we stay undetected, the better."

"So we'll move as one group? Tul and Eleena can be in charge of figuring out a way to disable whatever we find at the landing pads," Will suggested. "T'lees can stay on the shuttle with Shansa and watch our feeds. Give us any advice on the area if she recognizes anything."

T'lees cleared her throat. "Actually, if you would permit me to do so, I would like to join the squad for this excursion."

"Are you joking?" Eleena eyed her up and down. "You could barely stand up a day go."

"I want to help," she insisted. "It would take my mind off of the pain."

Will wasn't convinced. And judging by the looks on the faces of the others, they weren't either. Before he could respond, Tyrixis stepped forward and took a spot at the table.

"Ms. T'lees is capable, even with her impairment," the turian stated. "And she has a longing for vengeance." Tyrixis looked down the row to where the asari stood. "It would be foolish to turn down her offer. We can always use more guns, right?"

Vayren glanced over to T'lees and shook his head. "I have not seen much of what you have to offer in terms of combat strength." He turned to Will. "Captain, your thoughts?"

T'lees stood with her arms crossed and a grim yet determined expression on her face. Will looked to the woman for a long moment before relenting.

"She did well on Lorek," he affirmed. "The only reason she was injured is because I wasn't fast enough to help."

Vayren looked to Will and then back to T'lees before nodding. "I trust your judgment, Captain."

The asari's lips rose ever-so-slightly.

"Now, there's a chance Antarian has short-range scanners that could identify our silhouette, so once we get near the planet we're going to have to land and launch the Kodiak as fast as possible." Will looked over to Shansa. "Do we have an ETA?"

"We're less than an hour out," she answered. "I've already contacted the spaceport in New Karnak and reserved a berth like you asked."

"Good. The shuttle will be ready to go as soon as we've touched down." Will gave her a teasing grin. "And you might want to skip the post-flight checklist."

The pilot furrowed her brow irritably at the suggestion.

Vayren looked around the table. "This may very well be our last chance at finding Antarian." He looked down. "Well, _my _last chance, at least." The Spectre glanced back up. "And just in case I'm reassigned from this mission, I want you all to know that I've enjoyed working with you more than I had ever anticipated."

"And if you _aren't_ removed from the mission?" Kallux asked with a smirk.

The salarian met the krogan's gaze. "I'll save my thanks for then," he grinned lightly.

* * *

The Kodiak weaved from side to side through the meandering gorge as Shansa's deft hands swiped at the flight controls. Heavy vegetation from either side covered most of the stone faces that surrounded them, creating thousands of rays of light from the setting sun. Will gripped the bulkhead of the door to the cockpit nervously as the shuttle rocked back and forth.

"Still nothing," Tul announced to Will and Shansa. "If he's running any scanners, they're not picking us up."

Will gripped a little tighter as he felt the Kodiak begin to decelerate rapidly and nose upward.

"No room to land," Shansa announced as the shuttle slowed and began to hover in place. "Should be enough room to jump safely, though."

The Kodiak had approached a small outcropping near the top of the cliff that was almost completely concealed by enormous, tear-shaped leaves and vines as thick as tree trunks. Will gripped his helmet a little tighter and tucked it under his arm as the cabin hatch opened behind him. Shansa looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"This is your stop," she said with a wink. "Be careful."

Will nodded and stood aside as Tul jumped up from the copilot's seat and stepped past him.

"You too," he told her.

He turned to see the rest of the squad was already standing and double-checking their gear. Kallux stood without his cannon, having locked it into place on the nose of the Kodiak before they launched from the_ Hyperion_. Eleena was already peering out the door to the ledge that awaited beyond a two meter jump from the hovering shuttle. Beside her, Vayren stood examining his omnitool, checking over the comm frequencies that had been established for the mission. T'lees was carefully sliding her replacement helmet into place, carefully making sure not to dislodge the medical eye-patch that Tyrixis had given her. After the mission briefing, the doctor had made one last examination of her wound: an empty, shallow and unsightly eye socket of fresh scar tissue that T'lees was quick to request a cover for. Now, Tyrixis leaned against the back wall of the shuttle's cabin watching the rest of the squad in silence. Will stepped past them and came to a stop at the open door as he reached up and slid his helmet into place.

"One at a time now," he said with a grin.

Will leapt for the ledge and rolled as he cleared the jump by a good foot or so, tearing through vegetation as he did. He jumped to his feet and grabbed his M-15 from his back, igniting the omniblade bayonet and slicing through a large collection of the vines and leaves that had hindered his jump. The flora tumbled down into the deep gorge below as he stood back and waved the others to follow. He retracted the omniblade and turned to look up and down the ledge he had jumped to. It tilted upward on one end, stopping at a collection of rocks that looked as though they would provide a path to the top of the cliff. The other end slowly receded into the mossy stone before disappearing behind a thick coil of vines. Behind him, Eleena, Vayren and Kallux had already made the jump and were moving to clear the landing area. Will stowed his rifle and hurried over to the rocky ascent. He reached up and grabbed onto the first handhold he could find which, much to his relief, supported his weight.

"Watch yourself," Eleena advised as she stepped up behind him.

Off to his left, there was only a few leaves and roots between him and a painful fall.

"The rocks are stable," Will assured her as he began climbing.

It was only about fifteen feet upward before Will pulled himself to feet on the lip of the cliff. The jungle around him was illuminated by the sinking sun, sending orange and yellow rays through the vibrant, verdant foliage. He took a few steps away from the gorge and looked up to the crisscrossing branches and leaves of the jungle canopy. Will stared, entranced for a good minute until Kallux and Eleena had moved up to his sides, looking up with him.

"You okay, Hume?" Kallux finally asked.

"Heh, sorry," he said as he looked down to Kallux and then to Eleena. "Pretty view."

Eleena smirked lightly and drew her SMG. "Get it together, Captain."

Will grinned and turned back to watch as the others began to appear one by one. The noise of the Kodiak's thrusters slowly began to fade as Shansa lowered the shuttle deeper into the gorge to wait for her moment to pounce. Vayren, Tul'Sorrin, T'lees and finally Tyrixis climbed up from the ledge and formed up. Vayren and Tul quickly consulted one another before nodding in agreement.

"This way," Vayren announced as he set off into the jungle.

The rest of the squad fell in behind him without question. Will drew his rifle once again, holding it across his chest as they began wading through the thick flora. Just in front of him, Kallux reached for the shotgun on his back and began looking it over.

"Hey, be careful with that thing," Will called to him.

Kallux looked over his shoulder and laughed. "You never use it," he argued accusingly.

"It's sentimental!" Will retorted.

Eleena was following close behind him and stepped up at his side with a grin. "Oh of course! Who wouldn't want to remember when you almost got a face-full of shotgun from an insane batarian?"

Will glanced over to her. "The sentimental part is that I _didn't_."

"Thanks to me," Kallux reminded him. "Which is why I'll fiddle around with this thing all I want."

He cocked the shotgun and nodded approvingly. Will looked down to his omnitool to see Eleena pinging him on a private comm channel. He opened it up and looked to her with a raised brow.

"You really think Antarian's here?" She asked.

Will looked ahead as they ducked below the roots of an overturned tree. "I honestly have no idea. But it's our only lead so why not hope for it?"

Eleena rolled her eyes with a smile. "You really know how to inspire confidence, you know that?"

"Oh I'm aware," Will replied jokingly. "I've tried cutting back, but bottling up this much charisma just isn't healthy."

There was a small, almost silent laugh before Eleena cut the comm channel and dropped back into formation behind him. The next ten minutes went by in silence only broken by grunts as the squad jumped over logs and landed from small drops in the terrain. Vayren remained vigilant at the front of the group, guiding them with his rifle drawn and at the ready. After growing anxious from the silence, Will looked back over his shoulder to see the rest of the group keeping up nicely and opened up the squad comm channel.

"Doin' okay back there, T'lees?"

The asari, second to last in the line, perked up and nodded. "Yes, I am managing well enough."

"Everyone stay alert," Vayren ordered from the front of the group. "We're only a few hundred meters out from the coordinates."

"See anything yet?" Will asked as he stepped past Kallux.

The salarian shook his head as Will came up to his side and scanned their surroundings.

"I suggest that we halt the group and take cover once we get closer," Vayren advised. "Tul'Sorrin and I can activate our cloaking generators and get up close to investigate the perimeter."

Will nodded. "Sounds good. When do you think we'll be close enough?"

Spectre squinted and came to halt, stopping the rest of the group behind him. He raised his rifle and slowly scanned the horizon with his scope.

"I see a structure. It looks like a wall." Vayren lowered the weapon and looked over to Will. "To answer your question: now."

Will turned and waved the others up. "Alright, you've all heard the plan, right?" With nods of affirmation, Will motioned toward an enormous boulder a few meters away. "We'll lay low here while Vayren and Tul go in quietly. Any objections?"

With no response, Will stepped into cover behind the rock and watched as all but Vayren and Tul'Sorrin followed him. The quarian gripped his pistol in two hands and stepped up beside the salarian as Vayren stowed his rifle and retrieved his own pistol. The pair exchanged a quick glance and nodded before activating their stealth field generators and disappearing in a brief flicker. Leaves and vines parted to their invisible forms as they set off once again.

"We'll radio in as soon as we've found something," Vayren informed them.

Will leaned his back against the boulder and looked over to the others. Eleena had already stowed her weapon and leaned back in a similar fashion with her arms crossed over her chest. Kallux sat on a small rock, still examining the shotgun he had acquired from Will. T'lees stood at the far edge of the boulder, her shotgun raised as she seemed to familiarize herself with her reduced vision. Tyrixis was turned away from them, staring into the jungle with her rifle slung across her chest.

"You alright, doctor?" Will eyed her worriedly.

The turian continued to stare for a few seconds before answering. "I'm fine."

Tyrixis did not break from her gaze into the jungle as she answered. Will looked over to Eleena, who shrugged. He let out an anxious sigh and closed his eyes as they waited. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Will was debating on opening his comm link when Vayren finally radioed in with an update.

"_This is Vayren. We've done a quick sweep and it looks better than I was anticipating. Tul'Sorrin and I see no cameras, but there are a few motion detection devices on the walls themselves. It appears as though they will trigger an electrical discharge intended to kill or drive off local wildlife."_

"Any way to disable them?" Will asked.

"_Yes, I can spoof some data for them," _Tul answered. _"Luckily, we shouldn't have to worry about them at all. Agent Vayren and I found a doorway that looks as though it opens into a prefab on the opposite side of the wall."_

Kallux snorted lightly. "Is there anybody _in_ the prefab?"

"_That's what we're about to find out," _Vayren replied.

Will pulled up his omnitool and activated the vid feed from Vayren's helmet camera. He watched as the image of an invisible Tul, made visible on Vayren's HUD by an overlay, worked at the security door. Eleena, Kallux and T'lees all hurried to Will's side to watch the small screen on Will's omnitool. After about thirty seconds of work, the door finally pinged and slid open. Vayren peered his cloaked head around the corner to see that the room was a small storage shack. At the far end of the room, a turian in non-combat fatigues was looking over a datapad as he examined a few crates. The turian turned to the noise of the door opening, and quickly tossed the datapad aside before drawing a pistol from his belt.

"_Hey! Who's there?"_

Vayren's perspective darted back around the wall as the turian took a step toward the door. The sound of cautious footsteps rang out until the pistol poked through the doorway, followed by the curious turian. As he leaned out to investigate, the squad watched as Vayren reached up drove the butt of his pistol into the back of the turian's head.

"_Aggh!"_

The turian's thick skin absorbed most of the blow as he turned to face Vayren with his pistol pointing straight at him. Before the salarian could raise his weapon in defense, the turian discharged a shot straight into the center of his chest, flaring his shields and revealing him. Will's heart skipped a beat as another shot rang out and blood burst through a newly-formed hole in the turian's throat. He grasped at the gaping wound and fell to the ground, writhing in pain as he choked through blood for a breath. Vayren watched him fall before darting his sight over to see Tul withdrawing his pistol from firing position.

"_Good shot,"_ Vayren's voice said firmly over the comms.

The salarian peeked into the doorway once again and, upon finding it clear, stepped inside. _"Captain, bring the squad up. I will activate my indicator."_

Will deactivated his omnitool and looked around the group. Tyrixis had finally turned to face them as well.

"Let's go," he ordered. "We've got our way in."


	24. Chapter 24

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 24**

_**Northern coast of Kanirk Island, Yamm**_

The squad barely fit inside the cramped prefab building that Vayren and Tul'Sorrin had stumbled upon. Thankfully, the storage room had no windows and only one door that opened into the compound. Will leaned his head through the outer doorway to do one last quick check of the jungle they had passed through. The body of the turian that Tul'Sorrin had shot and killed a few minutes earlier was concealed beneath a pile of large leaves they had assembled beneath a tree nearby. Satisfied that it would suffice, he leaned in and shut the door behind him.

"Do we have a plan for _leaving_ this shack?" T'lees asked as she looked around crowded prefab.

Vayren and Tul had already made their way to the door on the opposite end of the room. The salarian glanced back to the others and nodded.

"Yes. Kallux, give me a hand, would you?"

The Spectre stepped up to one of the towers of crates that lined the walls and, with the help of the krogan, pulled the stack into the center of the room. The crates had effectively cut off Tul and Vayren from the others. Will peered around the stack to watch as they turned to face the door.

"We'll call if it's clear," Vayren said as his cloak activated.

Tul'Sorrin stepped up to the door and activated his cloaking generator as Will stepped back into hiding. A few seconds later he heard the door slide apart. There was a long pause before Vayren's voice sounded over the comm once again.

"_Bring everyone out and turn directly to your left,"_ the Spectre instructed.

Will looked to Kallux and nodded. They stepped up and pushed the crates back into their original position before hurrying through the door and to the left with the others trailing behind them. Will led them into a small inlet in what looked like the back corner of an enclosed area, blocked off on two sides by the compound's outer wall and a third by a large shipping container. He turned and waited as the rest of the squad filed in before Vayren uncloaked at the back of the group. The salarian waved Will over as he turned back toward the corner of the shipping container.

"What've we got?" Will asked as he stepped up beside Vayren.

"Tul'Sorrin is skirting the edge of the wall to get close to a security camera I spotted on the far side. He should be able to spoof a feed." The Spectre motioned to the corner. "As for the rest, see for yourself."

Will moved up to the edge and peered around cautiously to see that they were only a few dozen meters from a landing pad vast enough to fit a ship even larger than the _Hyperion._ Beyond it was a cargo shuttle slightly longer and wider than the Kodiak and twice as tall. Two technicians, a human and a turian, were perched beside the cargo shuttle working on one of the thrusters. Beside the shuttle was an idling red skycar.

"Anything else?" Will asked as he motioned toward the direction obstructed by the cargo container they hid behind.

"Another building," Vayren answered. "It has a set of bay doors, so I assume it is a maintenance facility."

"I don't see a ship," Will mentioned.

The Spectre nodded. "Neither did I. While it is one less obstacle to worry about, it may also mean Antarian is away."

Will looked over his shoulder. "Eleena, c'mere. We've got some things for you to take care of."

The asari stowed her SMG as she approached them. "My pleasure." She glanced around the corner. "The shuttle and a skycar? I can have them out of commission in three minutes."

"Glad you're as good at breaking them as you are at fixing them," Will mentioned offhandedly.

"They kinda go hand in hand," she replied while leaning back into cover and turning her attention to Will and Vayren. "What about the two mechanics?"

"They look unarmed," Vayren said as he looked out once again. "Tul'Sorrin and I can take care of them."

Tul, who had just darted into the shadow of the container and uncloaked, turned to face him. "You don't mean kill them, do you?"

The Spectre shrugged lightly. "Not immediately. I was planning on interrogating them first."

Vayren once again flickered into invisibility. Tul let out a small sigh and did the same. Will watched as their squad indicators rounded the corner and out onto the empty landing pad. He peered around the corner to watch as they approached the two mechanics inspecting a partially disassembled thruster on the side of the cargo shuttle. As Tul and Vayren came to a stop behind the turian and human, one of them turned as if he had heard a noise. Vayren and Tul's cloaks deactivated in sync, both with their pistols raised and pointed at the heads of the mechanics. They jumped in surprise and backed themselves against the shuttle, quickly raising their hands and shaking their heads. Vayren said something and motioned toward the squad with a quick jerk of his head, prompting their captives to nervously make their way to the shadowy corner. Tul gave the turian a slight nudge on his back, urging him to move faster as they crossed the landing pad. Will stepped aside as they stumbled around the corner, eyes wide with fright.

"What the fuck is this?" The human asked as he saw the full group.

"Answer our questions and you'll be fine," Will informed them, ignoring the question.

The squad formed a semicircle around their captives as they backed against the wall. Their eyes darted around the _Hyperion_ squad, each member confusing them more than the last.

"What questions?" The turian managed. "What's this about?"

"We're looking for someone," Vayren replied curtly. "Do you know anyone by the name of Narenthus Antarian?"

The human and turian exchanged a quick glance.

"Yeah, he owns the place," the human answered earnestly. "I get the feelin' ya'll aren't fans."

"Excellent observation," Tyrixis said icily.

Will stepped forward to the human. "So this _is _his facility? Is he here?"

Their captives paused briefly before the turian answered. "We... we don't exactly know his personal schedule..."

Vayren eyed him suspiciously, still holding his gun on the pair. "Is that the best answer you can provide?"

The human looked down to the ground and then over to the turian. "C'mon, Len. You really care 'bout this job that much?"

"I..." The turian shook his head. "I guess not. Good pay and easy work isn't worth..." He stared at Vayren's gun.

"If it'll make you feel better, he won't be around much longer regardless of what you tell us," Will said in as confident a tone as he could muster. "But we'd be a lot more inclined to let you two run if we knew we weren't wasting our time here."

The human mechanic nodded. "He's here. Least, he flew in a few days ago and sure as hell hasn't left."

The entire squad shifted and perked up. Will and Vayren looked to one another briefly, anticipation growing in their eyes.

"Where's the ship?" Eleena asked.

"Flew out a few hours ago," the turian answered. "Did some routine checks on it beforehand."

"Any idea where it was headed?" Vayren asked.

The human shook his head. "No idea. Swear to whatever ya believe in."

The turian gulped and looked around the squad again. "Who... who exactly are you?"

"I'm a Spectre," Vayren answered.

"A Spectre?" The turian shook his head. "What the hell do you want with Antarian?"

"Your boss has done some rather distasteful things," T'lees informed them as she motioned toward her eye.

"What he did isn't pertinent to the situation," Vayren added. "What is important is that he not be allowed to escape."

The human mechanic finally lowered his hands slowly. "Look, I don't know what the hell this guy's done, but I don't want any part of it. Len and I got hired on a few months ago after workin' freelance in New Karnak. We just thought he was some rich bastard with a lotta security."

Will glanced to Vayren and nodded toward his gun. The salarian sighed and lowered his weapon, still staring the captives down.

Eleena stepped up beside Will. "Ya know, I feel like this has happened before..."

"Hey, you're right," Tul said as he looked over to them. "Remember? Sommesh?"

Kallux nodded. "Oh riiight! That dock worker who called in buddies."

Will looked the mechanics up and down. "I don't _think_ Antarian is practicing brainwashing."

T'lees finally shook her head in confusion. "I'm sorry, but I am terribly lost. What is this about _brainwashing?_"

"I'll tell you some other time," Will answered with a smirk.

Tul stepped up to the pair and of captives and raised his omnitool. "And just to be safe..."

He waved his wrist over their arms, causing their omnitool bracelets to pop and spark. The human and turian jerked involuntarily and grab their wrists.

"There. They won't be calling anyone," Tul said contently.

"Yes, but now we can't pull any data from them," Vayren chastised with a sigh.

The quarian froze for a second. "Oh. Right."

"We're wasting time," Tyrixis said irritably. "For all we know, Antarian could have spotted us when we landed in New Karnak."

Will nodded in agreement. "She's right. We have to move." He turned his attention back to the captives. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

The turian and human shook their heads nearly in unison.

"Look, man, we're just mechanics," the human said with an air of desperation. "We've told you everything."

"Not everything," the turian corrected.

He stepped cautiously to the side and pointed to the building around the corner of the supply crate. "You can get into the compound through that building. Just be careful... the security barracks are right on the other side."

Will looked to him and raised a brow. "Anything else?"

The turian shook his head. "No."

"Then I suggest you leave now," Vayren said as he holstered his pistol and retrieved his rifle. "Things might get violent around here."

"Leave?" The human shook his head. "We can't leave! We're out in the middle of the jungle and you fried our omnitools!"

Kallux looked to Will and motioned around the corner. "We're gonna disable it anyway, why not let them take the skycar?"

Will eyed the mechanics up and down. "If we let you take that car, will you fly to New Karnak and _never_ come back here?"

The turian nodded quickly. "Yes, yes! We'll sell it and buy a passage off this place."

Will glanced to Vayren and raised his brow. The salarian let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, fine. Now go."

The mechanics remained in place for a moment before stumbling over themselves as they sprinted around the corner and for the far end of the landing pad. Will waved for everyone to follow as he and Vayren stepped out and raised their weapons, moving toward the building that led to the rest of the compound.

"Shansa, you'll have a skycar flying nearby," Will said as he broadcast to the shuttle. "Let it pass."

"_Understood! But I'd probably have missed it anyway. I'm still too low to run the scanners." _She paused nervously. _"Should I be running the scanners?"_

"Not yet," he reassured her. "I think we're still undetected."

The human and turian jumped into the skycar and had blasted off into the sky toward the city in the blink of an eye.

"That was... a foolish choice," Vayren lamented.

Will narrowed his eyes. "And what else were we gonna do? Kill them? Throw them out into the jungle?"

"We didn't owe them anything," the salarian argued.

"And now they have a reason to trust us over Antarian," Will countered.

"Since you two are just gonna bitch at each other..." Eleena stepped past them and jogged across the landing pad toward the cargo shuttle. "I'm gonna make sure this thing isn't taking off anytime soon."

As they approached the bay door at the center of the maintenance building, Will glanced nervously up to the idle security camera just beside it. Tul noticed Will's concern and raised his omnitool to do a quick scan.

"It's still hacked," the quarian informed him.

"Good." Will raised his rifle and stood back from the door. "Eleena, how much longer?"

She responded over the comm from somewhere on the other side of the shuttle. _"Just cutting the last fuel line. Done."_

The squad readied their weapons as Vayren stepped up to the security console and began working to bypass the lock. A few seconds later, Eleena came jogging up to the group with her SMG ready. T'lees held her shotgun to the side and began to summon a ball of biotic energy in her palm. As the security panel turned green, Vayren whipped up his rifle and stood back. The doors slid apart to reveal a large room littered with various crates and mechanical components. Luckily, no one was standing among them. Will stepped forward into the room with the others behind him, cautiously scanning their surroundings. Unlocked doors waited on the left and right side of the room. Will picked the left and moved toward it.

"I'm picking up some comm traffic," Tul'Sorrin announced. "Unencrypted."

"Anything worth our attention?" Tyrixis asked.

"It's just chatter," he answered. "I'll patch it into our channel."

Tul'Sorrin raised his omnitool to redirect the comm traffic as Will reached the door and tapped the controls. It slid apart to another gray, nondescript hallway with a turn to the right about ten meters down. He stepped forward into the hall as the comm traffic began feeding into his headset.

"_I don't know. He seemed worse than normal yesterday,"_ a female voice said.

A male voice responded._"Yesterday?" _It sounded batarian.

"_Ah, right. You were in town all day, yeah? Musta been about thirty hours ago. He called for everyone to pack up. Mandatory evac."_

"_Seriously?" _The male seemed utterly perplexed.

"_Oh yeah. Obviously he called it off."_

Will listened intently as he led the group around the corner and toward a door at the end of the hallway. It had a security lock like the one they had seen on the bay door and most likely opened to the outside.

"_They ever find out what happened to Talon Company?" _The batarian asked with a hint of anger.

"_Yeah. Pirates." _She spoke through gritted teeth. _"Apparently they started lookin' for him after they found out he's got a lot to steal."_

The batarian snorted. _"They probably pull in less than we do."_

"_A bunch of pirates aren't cut out for this job. They might know how to kill, but they don't know how to do it like us."_

The squad came to a stop at the door. Will looked over his shoulder as he reached for the door controls.

"Everyone ready."

With their guns raised, Will opened the door and stepped back.

"_Who is-" _The female voice echoed in the comm and the opening door.

Two figures, a male batarian and human female in heavy, dark-red armor, stood just outside the doorway. They turned to investigate with their rifles drawn to see the _Hyperion _squad staring back with weapons ready. Behind them in the yard beyond the door, another four troops sat on a collection of crates, looking down at a holopad. One of them looked up and, upon seeing the threat, alerted the others.

"We're not here to hurt you!" Will shouted immediately. "We want Antarian!"

The batarian froze in place briefly before raising his omnitool. "It's them! Alert! We've got-"

Tyrixis drowned his voice as she squeeze the trigger of her rifle, only to have the rest of the squad join her in silencing the batarian. The human female returned fire, but was cut down quickly by a blast from Kallux's shotgun. The four soldiers behind them had grabbed their weapons as they jumped for cover and were lining up shots on the tightly-packed doorway. Will identified the danger and ran through the door at full speed, hoping the others would follow. He rolled to the side as he exited into the courtyard and acquired a target as the others came charging through the door beside him. Antarian's men unleashed a burst of gunfire as Kallux and Tyrixis barreled through the door, firing in return. Will squeeze his trigger while Eleena and Vayren stepped up to the corners of the doorway and opened fire as well. The crossfire was intense, but the _Hyperion _squad vastly manned and outgunned their foes. The odds tipped further in their favor as T'lees sent a shockwave toward the enemy squad, knocking them off balance. Two of the soldiers in blood-red armor fell within seconds. Will was switching to a new target when a heavy shot impacted his shoulder and threw him to the ground.

Eleena's eyes widened. "Will!"

Tyrixis pointed to the bullet contrail. "Sniper!"

Before Vayren could even located the target, Eleena had blasted up to the second-story balcony of a prefab building across the courtyard. The windows that lined the building shattered as she impacted the turian sniper and sent him tumbling to the ground below. Vayren scored a shot as the turian rolled onto the ground and secured the kill. Eleena sprayed SMG fire from her new, elevated position with reckless abandon. The two remaining soldiers fell in seconds. Tyrixis sprinted forward and dropped to her knees at Will's side.

"Captain-"

"I'm fine," he groaned as he pushed himself up. "Just got the wind knocked out of me."

His shields, already low from the crossfire, had not fully intercepted the sniper's bullet. Instead, it had impacted upon his now heavily dented, but still barely intact, right bicep armor plating. Kallux stepped up to Will and offered him a hand as the others filed into the courtyard.

"That's gonna shatter if it takes another hit," the krogan advised as he eyed the armor plate.

Will grunted and grabbed his rifle from the ground as he stood. "Thanks for the warning. I'll avoid getting shot next time," he cracked.

Eleena leapt from the balcony of the small prefab and ignited her biotics to slow her descent just before hitting the ground. She ran across the courtyard and looked Will up and down with nervous eyes.

"You scared me!" She shouted accusingly.

"Relax, I already told Kallux I'd avoid bullets from now on." Will smirked and raised his rifle. "I was thinking of trying out that new fad. What was the name of it? 'Cover?'"

"We don't have time for chatter," Vayren interjected. "If they didn't get a message through, someone certainly heard the gunfire."

"You're right," Will admitted. "Where to?"

"The estate," the salarian answered. "T'lees, you said it was on the water?"

The asari nodded. "That is correct."

"It's that way," Eleena declared confidently as she pointed toward the setting sun. "I could see the ocean from up on that prefab. The coast is only a hundred or two meters away at most."

"On me!" Vayren ordered as he ran for the next building.

Will opened his comm channel to the shuttle as he and the rest of the squad fell in behind Vayren. "Shansa, you copy?"

"_Loud and clear!"_

"Things are getting hot and they probably know we're here. No sense in hiding anymore," he informed her as they entered what looked like a storage facility. "Get out of that ravine and start up the scanners. If you see any activity let me know. If you see something you can handle... take it out."

"_You got it, Will."_

The squad carefully scanned their surroundings as they moved toward the opposite end of the room and a large, double-wide cargo door. Stacks of crates marked as munitions seemed to indicate that they had entered an armory, but the dim lighting and lack of opposition was beginning to worry Will.

"I am surprised at the lack of confrontation thus far," T'lees said as though she had read Will's mind.

Kallux grunted in agreement. "There's no way we took out _that_ much of Antarian's security force on Lorek."

"Tul'Sorrin, is there any comm activity?" Vayren asked as he held his rifle on the door at the far end of the room.

"A little, but it's all encrypted," the quarian answered worriedly.

The Spectre reached for the control panel of the cargo door as they came to a stop before it. The six others assumed their positions with weapons raised and ready as Vayren quickly bypassed the lock and stepped back. Will stared suspiciously through the opening doorway to a large, open yard. On the right a long building ran all the way from the armory to the far wall of the yard, approximately fifty meters in length. Throughout the middle were training dummies and obstacles that made up what looked like a training course. The left wall was split into two halves, one part being a building similar in construction to that on the right, and the other being a shooting range. The far wall, closest to the coast and the supposed location of Antarian's villa, was a plain gray with a single, open door at the center. In front of the doorway, a lightly armored turian stood patiently with his arms behind his back.

Will took a step forward with the others following at his sides. "Who are you?" He shouted across the yard.

"It's rude to shout," the turian called back. "Then again it's also rude to show up uninvited." He paused. "_And_ to kill my security detail."

Vayren recognized the voice and stepped up to Will's side as they slowly and cautiously made their way into the yard. "Narenthus Antarian. Just the person we were looking for."

"And so valiantly, at that," the turian commended mockingly. "It's a shame you didn't take up my offer to put this sorry business to rest."

"Maybe a shame for you," Kallux remarked as he gripped his shotgun tighter.

The group had made their way to the middle of the yard as Antarian raised a hand in a halting manner. "I'll have to ask you to stop right there."

Eleena laughed. "Are you serious?"

Antarian tapped his omnitool once, signaling over a dozen mechs to rise from out of sight on the rooftops of the buildings surrounding them. The _Hyperion_ squad came to a dead stop and looked around them to the new targets. Will quickly noted the mechs and their positions: seven on the large building to their right, four on the armory and three on the smaller building to the left. A crash rang out in the armory behind them as an enormous crate fell apart to reveal a heavy YMIR mech, stomping toward them with its weapons humming.

"Another step and they fire. Spirits, do you perform _any_ reconnaissance?" Antarian crossed his arms. "What about 'special tactics?' No?" He looked around the group and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, but of course. You're one Spectre down. I was starting to believe that my contacts had obtained false information regarding a Spectre turning up KIA. Perhaps he took all of the expertise with him." The turian shook his head, "No, no, that was the older fellow, wasn't it? Rentarius? I remember looking over many of his case files when I first received my Spectre commendation." He let out a small laugh. "They were old then!"

"Bite your tongue," Tyrixis lashed. "You killed a good man."

"I killed a great man?" Antarian repeated. "If he died during your attack on my Lorek operation, then the blame lies with him. _I _did nothing. _He,_ and the rest of you, chose to continue this nonsense after I explicitly gave you an alternative that would have benefited everyone. Well, everyone but the Council."

"And when exactly were you going to send the assassins for me?" T'lees asked boldly. "Because that certainly would not have benefited _me_."

The rogue Spectre let his jaw drop slightly in disbelief. "Is that... by the Spirits, Fayneer, you're with _them?_ At least I could respect your civility before, but now?" He shook his head. "On the other hand, you have delivered yourself to me, so I can't argue with the convenience. You're one of the only loose ends left to tie up."

"Loose ends? How many loose ends do you have?" Tul asked. "You must have workers and soldiers in your employ who-"

"Do you think I tell everyone on my payroll about my past?" Antarian nearly snorted in amusement. "As for the others..." he glanced toward T'lees. "I will admit, Fayneer, that I was always rather fond of you. Unfortunately, you and a few select others will have to be removed, lest I be followed once again."

"It's a shame you'll never have the opprotunity," Will asserted. "You're under arrest."

"Of course I am. Though I suggest you do not attempt to take me into custody under the current circumstances." Antarian looked toward the mechs on the rooftops around them and crossed his arms. "Though I am curious... what are the charges?"

"You know the charges," Vayren spat. "You can't start two wars and not expect to pay the price."

"You have no idea how ignorant you sound, do you?" The rogue Spectre asked, his tone becoming more accusatory. "Oh, but then why _would _the Council tell you everything. The war on Sharkeer was a necessity. A matter of galactic stability. The regime was months if not weeks away from launching an offensive on a nearby asari colony on the borders of the Traverse. I did what I had to do in order to protect Council space."

"I find it hard to believe you chose that option objectively," the salarian countered. "Or is it just a wonderfully beneficial coincidence that your business profited from selling weapons to both sides of the conflict?"

"It had to be done!" Antarian shouted angrily. "And if I could stand to profit from the action, why would I not grasp the opportunity?"

"You're deranged," Tyrixis snarled. "You can rationalize Sharkeer all you want, but that's not the only war you've instigated."

Antarian narrowed his eyes. "They were inevitable. And the war on Lorek will break out with or without my hand playing a part." He raised his chin and exhaled in aggravation. "You've wasted enough of my time and I still have some last-minute business to take of. I can't leave any trace of this compound if I'm not to be found again."

He looked up to his mechs on either side of the yard and tapped his omnitool while stepping back through the doorway behind him. The door slammed shut and the sound of mechanical servos hummed as the mechs acquired targets.

Will turned for the small building to their left and shouted. "Run!"

The mechs opened fire before he had taken his first step. Bullets rained onto the squad as they sprinted toward the building. Will eyed their options as he sprinted: there were doors on each end of the building, and a series of floor to ceiling windows lining the wall between them. Not wanting to waste time on the doors while his shields tanked from the incoming gunfire, he raised his rifle as he ran and unleashed a hail of bullets into the center-most window. The glass splintered as a dozen bullets impacted the pane, but did not shatter. As he slowed to keep himself from impacting the glass, T'lees passed him by, still sprinting at full speed. The asari had her arm cocked back with a ball of biotic energy in her palm. She thrust her fist forward as she reached the glass panel, shattering it in a biotic explosion and leaving her to tumble over the small lip and into the room.

The window to the left met the same fate, but not at the hand of biotics. Kallux charged the glass after a series of shotgun blasts, impacting with his crest and sending the glass into thousands of pieces. Will, Tyrixis and Eleena followed T'lees into the building as Vayren and Tul did the same behind Kallux. Luckily, the YMIR mech had just finished making its way from the armory building. It fired off a missile that detonated just outside the window, sending glass and metal shards spraying toward the squad. They dove behind cover and Will scanned the room as he sat up with his back pressed to a support column. They seemed to be in some kind of rec room.

"Is everyone okay?" Will shouted into the comm.

He glanced to the shield monitors. They were all either low or depleted.

"Hit!" Eleena said through pain and gritted teeth. "Had my barrier up and everything... fuckers!"

The dozen mechs that still had line-of-sight on the squad's cover continued to spray bullets haphazardly into the building. Will ducked lower and prayed for his shields to recharge quicker.

"How bad?" Tyrixis asked.

"I'll be fine," the asari answered. "Dropping some medi-gel on it."

"Minor armor puncture, but no flesh penetration," Vayren reported. "Left calf plate compromised."

Will shut his eyes, drew in a deep breath and nodded assuringly to himself. Another missile from the YMIR and exploded just outside the building, rocking him from side to side. He opened his eyes and glanced around the corner of the column.

"We need to take that YMIR down," Will said.

"I can lock it up," Tul'Sorrin stated confidently. "At least for long enough to clear some of the LOKIs."

The YMIR raised its arm and fired a burst from its mass accelerator cannon into the room. The squad ducked back into cover as the furnishings rapidly depleted from the torrent of gunfire.

Will readied his rifle against his chest. "Waitin' on you, Tul!"

The quarian's fingers danced across his omnitool for a few seconds. "Ready!"

"Parallel building," Will ordered preemptively. "Move down the line as they fall! Three, two, one-"

He rose up from cover and locked his sights on the LOKI mech at the far left of the the roof of the building across the yard. His shields flared and wavered under the fire of the mechs as the _Hyperion_ squad returned the favor. In the corner of his eye, Will watched the YMIR grind to a halt as Tul hit it with a lockdown hack. Will concentrated on his target, landing a shot to the mech's head that toppled it to the ground. Eleena sprayed SMG fire toward her mech as T'lees caught it in a singularity. A perfect shot from Vayren's sniper rifle blew off his target's arm, leaving it helpless and sparking. Kallux was out of range to use his shotgun on the LOKIs effectively, and opted to grab a grenade from his belt and hurl it toward the currently disabled YMIR.

Will monitored the squad's shield levels nervously. "T'lees, Kallux! You're low!"

Kallux ducked back into cover behind an overturned couch, while T'lees simply bolstered her biotic barriers and continued firing. Will turned his attention to the four mechs that fired down from the roof of the armory as Vayren did the same. He fired straight and methodically until his shields finally cut out, forcing him back into cover. Metal shards sprayed past his visor as gunfire continued to disintegrate the column.

"YMIR is back online!" Tul'Sorrin shouted. "I can't hold it any longer!"

Tul had bought them enough time to take down seven of the eleven visible LOKI mechs. Will watched as his shields finally climbed past the fifty percent mark. That was good enough. He brought his rifle up and stepped out from cover once again to see the heavy mech raising its weapons to line up with the squad.

"Finish the LOKIs!" Kallux shouted. "I'll keep it busy!"

Before anyone could object the krogan blasted his shotgun into the already cracked window on the side of the building and rammed his shoulder into the glass. Kallux tumbled through the window as the glass shattered and ran toward the armory building. The YMIR's sensors locked on and began tracking the exposed target eagerly. Gunfire rained down on Kallux from the roof of the building the _Hyperion_ squad had taken refuge in, reminding Will of the three mechs above them.

"Outside!" Will shouted. "Take out the LOKIs!"

As he jumped forward and into the yard the others followed without hesitation. They each picked their targets and fired as they strafed toward crates and target dummies that might provide even the smallest amount of cover. Will turned and backpedaled, firing on the three mechs perched on the small building they had occupied. The rec-room had been decimated by bullet holes. Tyrixis, who was moving at Will's side, recognized the targets and spun to aid him as the rest of the squad finished off the two mechs that remained on each of the other rooftops. As the final LOKIs fell, the group turned their attention to the YMIR to see Kallux blasting the heavy mech with his shotgun at near point-blank range. The YMIR was clearly having trouble rotating fast enough to line up a shot as the krogan strafed a few feet away. The heavy mech finally managed to bring one arm to bear, quickly blasting off a rocket straight at the krogan. However, the attack was telegraphed as it mounted a foot for stability, giving Kallux warning and allowing him to dive to the side just as the rocket fired. The projectile missed him by inches and was sent hurtling into the armory behind him. It impacted a munitions crate and set off a small chain-reaction as another three or four detonated in turn.

"Hit it with everything!" Vayren ordered.

They were already on it. Their weapons roared and hissed, close to overheating, causing the YMIR's shields to flicker and die. Kallux had jumped to his feet and was sprinting back toward the rest of the squad as their bullets whizzed all around him. The heavy mech had rotated back toward them and raised its arms. A rocket roared from one while the mass accelerator exploded to life on the other. Dirt, pieces of the training obstacle course and chucks of metal target dummies were thrown into the air in the intense crossfire. Just before the rocket struck, Eleena erected a biotic barrier around herself and Tul'Sorrin to protect them. As Will's rifle finally overheated he dropped to his knee and tossed it to the side. He reached down to his belt, primed a grenade and threw it in a perfect arc toward the mech before reaching to his holster and retrieving his Carnifex. He brought the pistol to bear and squeezed off five or six shots before the YMIR's forward armoring suddenly and violently ripped open. With the structural integrity gone, the mech's armor quickly tore away under the combined firepower of the _Hyperion _squad.

"That's it!" Will shouted in relief.

Seconds later, the YMIR fell limp before exploding violently and sending shards of metal across the yard. Smoke billowed from the burning carcass of the heavy mech as Will slid his pistol back into its holster, grabbed his rifle and jumped to his feet. His breathing was heavy and stressed as the adrenaline spike started to fade.

"Everyone okay?" He called as he turned to the others.

Kallux laughed heartily as he leaned over to catch his breath. T'lees shook her head, panting as she watched the krogan.

"You... you _enjoyed_ that, didn't you?" The asari asked in bewilderment.

"What? Of course not," Kallux retorted with a mischievous grin.

Eleena stretched and eyed the krogan suspiciously. "I'm starting to think this 'calm and rational krogan' act is bullshit."

"It appears as though everyone is fine," Vayren reported. "We need to keep moving."

Will could see the gash in Eleena's lower torso armor where she was injured. A decent amount of blood had seeped from the wound before a heavy dose of medi-gel seemed to have sealed it. Tyrixis was already jogging toward the door that Antarian had stepped through. Tul'Sorrin was brushing the dirt from his suit as he and T'lees hurried toward the others.

"Antarian said he had some 'last-minute business,'" Will reminded them as he turned toward the doorway. "I have a feeling that's not something we want to see reach fruition."

The door, like the wall that surrounded it, was peppered with bullet holes from their exchange. Tyrixis had already discovered that the door was unlocked and stood to the side as it pinged and slid apart. Will took point and stepped past her onto a simple pathway in what looked like a trimmed and maintained portion of jungle. About a hundred feet ahead a slick, wide house stood at the end of the path.

"That's it!" T'lees exclaimed as she passed through the door.

Vayren picked up his pace to catch Will. "Hurry!"

The _Hyperion_ squad was nearly running by the time they came to a stop at the door of the villa. Vayren went to work cracking the lock as the rest of the squad paused to catch their breath.

"Get ready," Vayren advised as he lifted his rifle and stepped away from the door.

The door opened to reveal an open foyer and, much to Will's surprise, no opposition. He moved forward and stepped into the house with the rest of the squad on his flank. Aside from two doors on either side of the room that looked fairly unremarkable, the only significant feature of the room was a wide staircase at the center of the room that ascended to the second floor. Without discussion, the entire squad climbed the stairs with Will and Vayren in the lead. As they reached the top they entered a wide room that seemed to expand a dozen meters in either direction. The wall directly ahead of them was floor to ceiling glass, offering a breathtaking view of the sun as it set over the ocean. The room was filled with stylish furnishing, a bar and even a rock garden that lined one wall. At the center of the room sat a large crate much like those they had passed in the armory with a collection of wiring that coiled from the top and sides. The group spread out, looking carefully and noting the doorways on either side of the room that led into other areas of the house. Tul approached the crate at the center of the room as Will hurried to the glass wall and looked down.

"He's here!" Will shouted as Vayren stepped up to his side.

Below them and a few dozen meters away along the cliffside was a landing pad with a trio of figures approaching a skycar parked at the center.

Will opened his comm to the shuttle. "Shansa! Get over here!"

"_On my way!"_ The pilot replied.

"_Well, I've certainly learned a thing or two from this encounter,"_ Antarian's voice echoed through the room.

Will and Vayren looked down to see the turian standing beside the open hatch of the skycar, his omnitool activated as looked up to the human and salarian in the window above him.

"_Fewer mechs, more bodies,"_ he finished with a small laugh.

Vayren rammed his rifle stock into the glass, but was met with nothing but a small shake by the sturdy window.

"_You won't break it,"_ Antarian advised assuringly. _"Now please be courteous and die this time around."_

"It's a bomb," Tul'Sorrin declared nervously from beside the crate.

Antarian lowered his omnitool and entered a few commands before waving up to Will and Vayren. The turian slid into his seat in the skycar and nodded to the batarian pilot.

Will gripped his rifle. "Come on, Shan..."

Behind him, the crate beeped and the small control panel blinked to life. Tyrixis stepped up beside Will and raised her rifle at the skycar as the door slid shut, firing off two shots into the window that were stopped by the reinforced glass. Will looked back over his shoulder to see Tul'Sorrin kneeling beside the crate, working furiously. He glanced back at the skycar briefly before tearing himself away and running to the quarian.

"Can you disarm it?"

"I'm trying!" Tul'Sorrin answered desperately.

"Contact!" Eleena shouted.

Will looked up to see the doors that lined the walls of the room opening. LOKI mechs began marching through the doors and shooting as the squad turned and searched for cover. Will remained beside Tul to protect him as he worked and picked a target. Vayren turned from the window and fired, destroying a LOKI with a perfectly placed shot from his rifle.

"He's getting way!" Tyrixis shouted, the distress apparent in her voice.

"We have more pressing issues!" Will replied as he squeezed off a burst from his M-15.

He glanced over his shoulder and felt a sinking feeling in his gut as the skycar jumped to life and lifted into the sky. Its engines roared to push it up out of sight and over the house. Will was about to force the loss into the back of his mind when a flash of light cut through the skycar and sent fire and debris spraying from the back of the vehicle. Will let out a joyous laugh as he watched the Kodiak fly past the window with Kallux's cannon thumping on the nose of the craft before turning back to the encroaching mechanical horde.

"_Right in the thruster housing!" _Shansa shouted over the comm. _"Tell me someone saw that!"_

"She got it!" Tyrixis exclaimed. "It's going down."

Across the room, Eleena grunted and charged toward a LOKI in a ball of biotic energy. The mech smashed into the wall and exploded as the asari turned and sprayed her SMG fire into another one nearby. T'lees and Kallux stood between a pair of doorways, blasting the mechs with their shotguns as they passed through one by one. Will turned to call Tyrixis over only to see the turian sprinting toward the stairwell they had ascended minutes earlier.

Will furrowed his brow. "Doctor? Where are you-"

He cut his thought short as he turned his attention to a mech lining up a shot with Tul'Sorrin. He beat the LOKI to the punch and destroyed it with a series of shots to the head. Will looked back in Tyrixis's direction just in time to see her disappear down the stairwell.

"The hell is she going?" Eleena yelled.

"Forget it!" Vayren answered as he fired another shot. "Keep them off of Tul'Sorrin."

Will looked down to see the progress bar on the bomb's control panel shrinking. He swallowed hard and turned his attention back to the task at hand. Across the room, a mech exploded as Kallux placed a point-blank shotgun blast into its chest. The krogan roared in pain as a large chunk of shrapnel impaled a lightly-armored portion of his thigh while T'lees turned and blasted the next LOKI with a biotic burst while it raised its weapon toward the doubled-over krogan. Nearby, Eleena let out a yelp of exertion as she charged another pair of mechs, dropping them both to the ground. She sprayed them with SMG fire as they writhed and struggled to pull themselves up.

"I've got it," Tul muttered. "I've got it!"

The panel on top of the crate blinked and went blank as the quarian forced an override onto the last system. Tul'Sorrin jumped up and blasted a nearby LOKI with an overload as he drew his pistol and joined the fight. Thirty seconds later, the last mech fell and the doors around them automatically slid shut. Across the room, Kallux sat with his back to the wall as T'lees leaned at his side and applied a dose of medi-gel to his bleeding leg. Eleena holstered her SMG and stumbled back to the center of the room, passing by a half-dozen destroyed LOKIs that lay sparking on the floor. She looked as though she was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"We're not done," Vayren reminded them in a strained voice. "Shansa, did you see where the skycar went down?"

"_Into the jungle nearby,"_ she answered. _"I see the smoke. I'll do a quick flyover."_

Will had hurried to Kallux's side and helped him to his feet. The krogan grunted and nodded in thanks as he pushed the human aside.

"I'm fine," Kallux assured him with blood pouring from his leg.

T'lees winced and looked away from the wound.

"We've gotta find the crash site," Will declared. "And where the hell is the doctor?"

* * *

"_Tyrixis? Do you copy?"_

The doctor ignored her calling and reached down to her wrist to disable the comm channel. Captain Hume would have to wait. She steadied her rifle and walked carefully as she passed through the heavy flora of the jungle. The sound of a roaring fire and the path of crushed vegetation guided her around a tree trunk at least three meters in diameter to her destination. She narrowed her eyes and remained alert as the sight of the crashed skycar came into view. While the sun had almost set, the light of the fire burning in the aft section of the vehicle provided just enough light to illuminate the freshly formed clearing. She came to a sudden halt and closed one eye as the hatch of the skycar moved. The door shook again and jerked upward as it was pushed open manually, allowing Antarian to gasp for the fresh air. Smoke poured from the wreckage as he climbed from the fuselage and rolled onto the ground, panting for breath. Tyrixis slowly approached the turian and came to a stop a few feet from where he lay.

"Get up," she ordered.

Antarian jumped in shock and stared up as Tyrixis loomed over him. He coughed heavily and pushed himself painfully to his knees before standing and looking her up and down.

"You... you're really going to let _them_ win?" Antarian managed to ask as he coughed up blood. "The Council that gets to decide, all on its own, what is or isn't just?"

"I don't report to the Council," she answered calmly. "That was one of the last things my brother reminded me of. As a matter of fact, I don't report to anyone."

"Then what is this all about?"

"Before, it was about the misdeeds you performed on the galaxy." Tyrixis nodded toward him. "Now, it's about you. And me."

"It's going to take a lot more than one old hag to take me in," Antarian taunted.

Tyrixis let her mandibles flare gently in amusement. "Then it's a good thing I have no interest in taking you alive."

He met her eyes cockily to call her bluff. "As if you would-"

She squeezed the trigger and sent a bullet through his head. Before his body could fall limp she slammed the stock of her rifle into his chest, causing him to tumble over backwards and into the skycar that was now engulfed in flames. Tyrixis stared down at the burning body for a few seconds until the sound of crunching twigs and leaves echoed behind her.

"Her indicator is just ahead," Vayren's distant voice declared over his helmet's local broadcast. "I see the fire."

She activated her comm. "I found the wreckage," she reported.

"_Doctor, are you alright?"_ Will asked.

Tyrixis did not answer. She slid her rifle onto her back and took a few steps away from the growing inferno. She folded her arms over her chest, closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath as she waited for the others to arrive.


	25. Chapter 25

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 25**

_**MSV Hyperion, in orbit over Yamm, Kalabsha System**_

"_Excellent work, Agent,"_ Tevos said diplomatically. _"Though it is unfortunate that you were unable to bring Antarian to justice alive."_

Will looked over to the salarian as they stood side by side in the enclosed bunkroom. The Council's holographic image wavered slightly as it projected from the holopad on the table.

"I agree," Vayren replied. "But, as I said, it was unavoidable. He could have vanished completely had he escaped. Given the potency of the explosives that we disarmed, it is clear that he intended to leave no evidence of his estate and no trail to follow. Fortunately, we were able to pull a large amount of data from the internal network of his estate. Finances, current and future operations, and so on."

"_Good," _Councilor Sparatus commended. _"We expect a full report within the next three days, Agent Vayren. Once it and the data you mentioned have been analyzed we will determine a plan for the cleanup operations. "_

"I will deliver it as soon as possible," the Spectre assured them. "And I plan on returning to the Citadel within three days."

"_Good,"_ Valern acknowledged. _"We already have several issues that need looking into. There are also a handful of inactive assignments remaining on Agent Corsin Rentarius's docket. We would like you to evaluate them upon your return."_

Vayren bowed his head lightly. "Consider it done, Councilors."

Tevos donned her politician's smile and nodded her head in return. _"We will be in touch. Good day, Agent."_

The transmission ceased seconds later. Will snorted and glanced over to Vayren once again, but was given a response before he could even speak.

"They will never acknowledge you," Vayren informed him regrettably.

The salarian stepped forward and collected the holopad to hold under his arm. He turned to face Will and let out a small sigh.

"For that, I apologize." Vayren extended a hand. "But that does not mean_ I_ cannot acknowledge you and the rest of the crew."

Will let a small smile rise on his lips as he reached forward and took the hand, shaking firmly. "Thanks, Vayren."

"Please, Captain, you don't owe me any thanks. I should be thanking you." The Spectre retracted his hand. "Agen-" He cut himself short. "_Corsin_ and I could not have completed this assignment without your help."

"It was an honor to be a part of the mission." Will gave him a bittersweet smile. "I hope things get better on those worlds Antarian manipulated."

Vayren met his gaze. "Indeed. I wish we could have stopped him sooner."

Will crossed his arms and leaned back against the table. He could see something different Vayren's eyes, but he wasn't sure just exactly what it was.

"You... doing alright, Vayren?"

The salarian's gaze fell wearily to the floor. He let out a small sigh and opened his mouth just slightly before speaking.

"I was just wondering when this day would come," he answered.

"Which day is that?" Will asked quietly.

Vayren looked back to him. "His method was unforgivable, but what Antarian said was true. When it comes down to it, he _was_ following the Council's orders." He shook his head. "I was able to recover some of his case files from the data we collected at his villa. He was tasked with stopping the entire planetary invasion of an asari colony with only weeks to find a solution."

Will raised a brow. "I thought you stopped plenty of wars with the STG."

"We did," the Spectre affirmed. "But we had months, years, to orchestrate our solutions."

"So what are you saying?"

Vayren remained silent for a long moment before responding. "Someday I might be in the same position he was. And I may not know all of the details, but... I'm not sure what I would do."

"You'd find a solution." Will nodded to the salarian. "You're a Spectre, after all."

"I also looked into Corsin's service record. Well, that which is declassified, of course." Vayren raised his brow in bewilderment. "Some of the choices he had to make... the people he had to sacrifice..."

Will nodded in understanding. "When it came down to it, he made the choice a _real_ Spectre would make. You think Antarian would have done the same he did thing on Lorek?"

Vayren shook his head. "No."

"Would you?" Will eyed him curiously.

The salarian stared into nothingness. "Yes." He looked over to Will. "Without hesitation."

Will smiled lightly. "That's why you're the soldier, and I'm the scoundrel."

Vayren chuckled briefly at the notion. "Scoundrel? Hardly. Like it or not, Captain Hume, you and your crew do more good than most in this galaxy."

"Aheh," Will glanced to the side. "You caught us on a good week. We've made more than our fair share of smuggling runs."

The salarian crossed his arms. "I'll forget I heard that. Just this once."

"Right, well, if you ever need a ship and guns you've got our number," Will reminded him.

"I will keep that in mind." Vayren smiled and raised his omnitool. "I put in the requisition order for your payment a few minutes ago. It should be transferred to your account within the next standard day."

Will grinned and crossed his arms. "Taking that bastard down felt so good that I almost forgot about that part." He motioned toward the Spectre's holopad. "Need to make any more calls?"

The salarian shook his head. "No, not now."

"Great." He reached down and tapped a command into his omnitool. "Hey Shansa, we're done with the comm buoy."

"_Finally!" _She teased. _"Setting course for Omega."_

"I should get started on my report," Vayren stated as he turned to the briefing table.

Will nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll let you work."

He turned and walked to the door. As Will tapped the console to open it, he glanced back over his shoulder to Vayren. The salarian was already intently focused on typing away at his holopad while he stood at the table. Will smiled to himself and stepped into the hall before turning and walking to the cockpit. Shansa jumped up from her seat with a beaming smile as he approached, having clearly heard him coming. He couldn't help but meet her eyes and smile back.

"Was I awesome or _what?_" She boasted.

"You were pretty damn awesome," he answered with a grin.

Shansa shrugged casually and leaned against the bulkhead of the door. "Yeah, you know, I don't like to brag or anything..."

Will laughed and gave her a small hug. "You did good, Shan."

"You too, Will. I'm really glad we finished this," she said as they parted.

A small frown spread across her face to match her much more serious tone. Will nodded in agreement and closed his eyes.

"You and me both. I mean, Kallux's leg is probably fine by now, damn krogan, and Eleena's probably not even gonna have a scar, but..." He took a deep breath and opened his eyes once more. "You okay?"

Shansa shrugged gently. "I kinda miss Corsin."

Will chuckled softly. "It's funny, isn't it? If he was still here he'd probably be leaving in a day or two." He shook his head with a regretful smile. "I wish he could've seen this to the finish."

"Yeah. Me too." She crossed her arms and sighed. "So... where to after Omega?"

He leaned against the wall beside her. "Well, Vayren insisted on taking civilian transport back to the Citadel, which apparently we are not, so I guess we can go wherever we damn well please."

"How does _nowhere_ sound to you?" Shansa raised a brow. "At least for a few days."

"Glad you suggested it," Will answered. "Because I need a goddamn day off."

The pilot eyed him silently with a playful grin.

Will glanced over and looked her up and down. "What?"

"Got any 'special plans?' Ya know, some quality time with a certain purple, foul-mouthed engineer?"

He answered slowly in an attempt to avoid suspicion. "Why would you think that?"

Shansa smirked and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, I've know you since we were, what, ten? I like to think I've got a handle on what makes you tick. Plus, I've seen the way you guys have been looking at each other."

Will smiled sheepishly. "I was... a little worried you might get jealous."

"Pfft!" She laughed and pulled her hand back. "How many times do I have to tell people I'm _not interested _in shacking up with my pretty-much-brother?" Shansa shook her head in disappointment. "Reel that ego in, William."

"It's not my ego!" Will raised his hands defensively. "You can't tell me you never think about how-"

"Ah!" Shansa raised a finger to silence him. "Enough! Trust me on this one, Will: do _not_ want to dig yourself this hole."

He let out a sigh and turned to walk back down the hall. "Bah! Go fly the ship or something."

She giggled softly and turned back into the cockpit. "Later, Will."

As he passed by the crew's quarters the laugh of a familiar krogan caught his ear. He stopped at the doorway and looked in to see Kallux standing behind Tul while the quarian sat at his computer terminal.

The krogan put his hand on the chair and laughed again. "You sneaky little pyjak!"

"Uggh, _must_ you use that analogy?" Tul asked as he tapped away at the computer.

Will stepped into the room and approached the pair. "What's goin' on?"

Kallux glanced over his shoulder with a grin. "Tul's been going through all the data we pulled from Antarian's private network."

"Anything interesting?" Will raised a brow.

"Oh yes," Tul answered gleefully. "It looks as though his ship, the _Pride of Kalabsha,_ had been sold a few days before we arrived. Part of his plan to disappear, I assume. It left from the villa a few hours before we arrived to be delivered to its buyer."

Will nodded, intrigued. "Who is?"

"It _was_ some well known slaver," Kallux muttered irritably.

"Exactly. _Was. _Until I found his personal encryption algorithms," the quarian said with an audible smirk.

"Okay... did he have really good encryption? What does that have to do with anything?" Will asked, slightly confused.

Tul hemmed and hawed momentarily. "Not particularly. But I also found his list of contacts: the people who _receive _these encrypted message."

"He found the channel Antarian used to send messages to his ship," Kallux elaborated.

Will grinned much like Kallux as he understood. "Ahh..."

Tul'Sorrin nodded and put on narrative tone. "And so, they will receive a message from 'Antarian' informing them that the buyer has requested the ship be delivered to a port on Omega instead of Bekke. The skeleton crew will dock the ship at a berth that Kallux and I reserved, leave the root systems access in a specified drop location, and never return."

Will laughed and shook his head. "You son of a bitch! What's the plan, then?"

The three of them exchanged curious looks, each waiting for the other to make a suggestion.

"Well," Tul finally began, "one of us should keep an eye on it, at least."

"I've already got all the ship I need," Will admitted. "And from what I saw of that thing on Neidus, a corvette doesn't provide the space we need for transporting goods or passengers. Probably doesn't even have room for a shuttle." He reached over and gave the wall of the _Hyperion _a loving pat.

Kallux nodded to Tul'Sorrin. "How 'bout it, Tul? You had your station destroyed, right? It'd only be fair."

The quarian looked over his shoulder to the others. "I- uh..." He shook his head. "I'd rather not. I like it here on the _Hyperion._"

"Aw, shucks." Will leaned back against the wall and looked to Kallux. "What about you, big guy?"

Kallux shrugged. "I guess I could hold on to it. Probably doesn't need more than three bodies to run the systems. Plus, I'll need something get around in as I assume you'll be keeping the Kodiak." He chuckled and nodded from side to side in consideration. "RMC's gonna need a 'flagship' anyway, right?"

Will laughed. "I can't think of a more poetic way to obtain one."

Tul'Sorrin glanced between the two of them. "Wait, what? Did I miss something?"

Kallux and Will shared a quick looked as they both simultaneously realized that Kallux had not informed the rest of the crew about his upcoming departure from the crew.

"No, you didn't miss anything," the krogan answered with a sigh. "I just haven't told you yet."

Will smirked and backed away. "I'll let you bring Tul up to speed. I've got people to check up on."

Kallux reluctantly began prefacing his upcoming change as Will hurried out of the room and toward the cargo bay. Over by Tyrixis's armory station stood Eleena, T'lees and the doctor. Tyrixis had her medical supplies spread out on her workbench as she knelt beside Eleena. The asari had her shirt gripped and held up to expose her midriff as she looked off to the side with an annoyed expression.

"It's fine," she complained as Will approached them. "Seriously, the medi-gel was enough."

"Medi-gel cannot remove shrapnel," Tyrixis argued in a focused, monotone voice.

Will came to a stop a few feet away to see that the doctor was scanning Eleena's torso with a small device as the asari tapped her foot impatiently. Eleena's wound was clearly fresh, but half-sealed already from the application of medi-gel. At last, Tyrixis lowered the scanner and stood.

"It looks clean," she declared. "But you should have allowed me to inspect the wound before sealing it. If a piece of debris had been inside, surgery would have been required to remove it."

"I hear a lot of 'if' and 'would have,'" Eleena remarked as she lowered her shirt. "Not a lot of 'is' or 'will have to.'"

"But of course. There's no reason to listen to me." The doctor sighed and turned to place her med-scanner back on the table. "You are free to go."

Eleena stepped past Will as she headed for the rear compartment. "I'll be in the engine room."

He smiled and watched her go before turning back to see T'lees step up for her turn with the doctor. Tyrixis raised her chin slightly and narrowed her eyes as she leaned forward to inspect the asari's eye. She reached forward to gently grasp the eyepatch T'lees wore before lifting it up and pulling it from her head. Will and the asari both winced as it happened, but for different reasons. Scar tissue had already formed in and around her empty left orbit, with a few long streaks reaching so far up and along the side of her head that they nearly touched the base of her scalp. While the wound was not that of stomach-churning gore, it was a tad unsettling. Will straightened his face and posture quickly after seeing the wound, and T'lees did the same, having winced from the pain in her still-tender flesh.

"You are very fortunate," Tyrixis informed her. "If the shrapnel had traveled much further, you would have certainly been killed. Your wound has healed quite well, however."

"Yes, I feel ever so fortunate," T'lees mused wearily.

"You did well earlier," Will said, hoping to ease the pain. "Glad you were there."

The asari's single eye looked over to Will as Tyrixis carefully placed the eyepatch back into place. "I am glad you appreciate my efforts, Captain. However, I am sorely out of practice. I have already reestablished my weekly training schedule and will be back to my full potency in a matter of months."

Will furrowed his brow slightly. Tyrixis turned from them and began collecting her supplies in the medical bag at the end of her workbench.

"That's... good? I mean, I guess you'll want to keep safe." He watched as she averted her eye.

T'lees looked back after a few seconds. "I was hoping, Captain, that you might permit me to stay on board for a short time."

He crossed his arms. "You're not ready to get back to Thessia with that fresh pardon?"

She shook her head gently. "I spoke with Agent Vayren. He cannot issue a pardon to the Thessian authorities. He can, however, ensure that the Council government will not enforce any extradition orders."

"That's something, at least," Will admitted. "But I'm not sure how crazy I am about having a fugitive on my ship."

T'lees took a step toward him. "Captain... Antarian controlled all of my accounts. He emptied and closed them just before you found me, which is how I knew he was preparing to kill me." She shrugged and looked up to him hopefully. "I have nowhere to go, and if I did, I wouldn't have the credits to take me there."

Will looked to the side as he considered the asari's situation. She had already proven herself to be a competent fighter and they would soon be losing Kallux, their greatest combat asset. He let out a deep sigh and dropped his arms back to his sides.

"Alright. You can stay, but there are gonna be some rules." Will looked back to her. "No weapon brokering, for starters."

She smiled warmly. "I will abide by your rules, Captain Hume." She reached forward and grasped his hand diplomatically. "Thank you. I am truly in your debt."

The asari bowed her head gratefully before turning and walking to the forward hall on light, wisp-like footsteps.

"I would not have allowed her to stay," Tyrixis mentioned quietly as she finished packing her equipment. "The commandos may pick up her trail again."

Will looked over to the turian. "It took them half a century to find her before, I think we'll be okay."

She did not respond. Tyrixis slid the medical pack over her shoulder as she turned back to Will. He cleared his throat to ensure that she would not walk off immediately.

"Hey, doctor, I wanted to thank you for sticking around." He gave her a half-smile.

"We had a mission to complete," she said coldly.

Will nodded in agreement. "And now?"

Tyrixis looked downward. "I will leave when we arrive at the next port. My father will need to be told that his son is dead, and then I must bury him."

He eyed her in silence for a long moment. "Did Antarian's death make it any easier?"

The turian continued to stare toward the floor. Her right mandible fluttered lightly, then assumed its normal position.

"Yes. It did."

She said nothing more before turning and marching to the forward hall. Will stood and watched until she had stepped through the door and out of sight. His eyes lingered after her for a few moments, worried, before finally tearing his gaze away and walking to the engine room door. Will stopped in the doorway and placed his hand on the bulkhead as he saw Eleena facing the eezo core, working on her omnitool. Her tapping fingers slowed as she heard him come to a stop. The asari turned her head just far enough for her eye to catch a glimpse of him over her shoulder.

"You just planning on standing there?" She teased with a smirk.

Will grinned to himself. "Well I didn't want to interrupt."

She shut her omnitool and spun on her heel to face him in one motion. "Think I'd rather look at FTL core readings than talk to you?" Will raised a brow as she paused, waiting for her to continue. "It's a close one, sure, but I've had plenty of engineering in my life already. Only a little bit of you so far."

Will smiled and stepped up to her. "That sounded damn near romantic."

"Shit, don't tell anyone," she joked with a small grin. "How are they doing, anyway?"

He let out a sigh of consideration. "Well enough, I guess. I think they're just glad we caught him before... before anyone else got hurt."

"I'll second that," Eleena muttered. "And talk about stress. I'm not so crazy about these month-long missions."

Will grinned slyly. "You haven't seen the payment yet."

The asari gave him a reminding push on the shoulder. "As long as a cut goes toward those fusion couplings I've been bugging you about, I'm happy."

"You can pick out whichever you want," he answered. "We'll arrive at Omega within twelve hours."

"Perfect." She raised a brow. "Until then?"

"I might head up to the loft. I need a decent night of sleep," Will said with a sigh. "Wanna join me?"

"Eh, I'm not tired," she answered with a shrug.

"I didn't say I'd be going to sleep right away." He turned for the door and glanced over his shoulder. "I think I need to unwind first. Maybe reward myself for all this hard work... relieve that stress you were talking about."

Eleena narrowed her eyes knowingly to his mischievous half-grin and reached back to turn off the FTL core's external data feed. She wouldn't be back to use it for at least an hour or two.


	26. Chapter 26

**Contingent Absolution - Volume Two**

**Chapter 26**

_**Docking bay E-19, Omega**_

It took hours to offload all of the equipment belonging to Kallux, Tyrixis and Vayren. Will was glad they were on Omega, as the amount of military-grade hardware might have aroused considerable suspicion at nearly any other port. Kallux, Tul and Shansa had already left in the Kodiak to deliver the krogan's gear to a storage facility that he would use until a permanent base of operations could be established for the Red Moon Collective. After that they would stop by docking bay C-6, where the helpless _Pride of Kalabsha _would, hopefully, be ripe for the snatching. The others remained at the _Hyperion's _berth to assist Vayren and Tyrixis in their departure preparations. The salarian and turian soon found themselves standing over Corsin's large footlocker while sorting through its contents.

"I'm afraid I will have to take this," Vayren informed Tyrixis. "It could contain data pertinent to Spectre operations."

He lifted Corsin's holopad from the crate and held it between them, waiting for her objection. The turian's eyes fell on it briefly before returning to the footlocker.

"Fine," she answered without argument.

Will and T'lees stood off to the side to watch the process while Eleena finished up her work in the engine room. Will was surprised at how empty Corsin's locker appeared to be. He then reminded himself that the majority of the room was most likely reserved for the hardsuit and rifle that he had been wearing when he was killed. Tyrixis lifted a set of clothing from the footlocker and ran her fingers across the top. Will wasn't an expert in turian fashion, but it appeared to be a semi-formal suit adorned with blue, yellow and red embroidery. Vayren's eyes glanced over to the suit briefly before looking back down into the crate.

"I'm surprised he still had this," the doctor commented.

She turned and set the suit into the bag that sat behind her.

"A classic s_urris_," T'lees mentioned to no one in particular. "It is a timeless design, many would say."

Will raised a brow. "A surris?"

The asari nodded toward Tyrixis's bag. "Yes. A piece of turian semi-formal wear quite popular outside of the more traditional turian worlds. The first of the style were actually designed by asari well over seven centuries ago."

"Ahuh." Will turned his attention back Tyrixis and Vayren. "I don't keep up with fashion that much."

Tyrixis reached into Corsin's footlocker and withdrew a handgun. Both of her hands gently grasped the weapon and slowly rotated the pistol from side to side as she examined the make and model. Will watched Vayren open his mouth to say something before changing his mind and shaking his head. The doctor placed the pistol in her holster and stared down into Corsin's crate.

"That's it," she said quietly.

Vayren nodded in affirmation. "So it is." He activated his omnitool. "My taxi should be here in just a few minutes," he declared.

The salarian knelt and shut his footlocker before turning to face Tyrixis. Will and T'lees took a few steps forward as the turian drew the strings on her bag and stood with them. Will looked around the small circle and cleared his throat.

"I can call Eleena out if you want to say goodbye," he offered.

"I have already said my thanks and goodbyes to the others," Vayren informed him. The Spectre looked to Tyrixis and drew a small breath. "It was an honor working with you, Doctor Rentarius. And your brother."

He extended a hand to the turian who eyed it momentarily. A few seconds later she silently accepted the gesture and shook once. As their hands parted, Vayren looked over to Will and T'lees with a small smile.

"Thank you for the good work," he said simply. "And Captain... don't stop what you're doing out here. Someone has got to keep the ruffians in line and the Spectres are far too understaffed."

Will smirked. "As long as there are vengeful businessmen and outgunned Spectres to pay the bills."

"You could be doing far worse for equal or more pay," Vayren reminded him. "I wasn't sure such anomalies existed here in the Terminus. I suppose that is one of the many things I learned from Agent Rentarius."

"Yeah, well..." Will shrugged and nodded toward the salarian. "Good luck with whatever top secret assignment you get after this."

The Spectre smirked. "I don't believe in the forces of 'luck,' but I appreciate the gesture."

A buzz sounded from Vayren's omnitool to alert him of the automated taxi that had arrived outside the private docking bay. Minutes later they had loaded the salarian's footlocker into the skycar and watched as it lifted into the air and soared off toward the commercial spaceport. Will, Tyrixis and T'lees stood outside the doorway to docking bay E-19 until the hum of the taxi's engine could no longer be heard. Tyrixis broke the silence as she stepped toward the street.

"I must go," she said quietly.

Will frowned and took a step after her. "Hold on."

The turian stopped and turned to face him. Her harsh, penetrating eyes stared him down as he looked back with uncertainty.

"I just wanted to thank you for the help," he explained.

"And for saving my life," T'lees added from a few feet behind Will.

Tyrixis looked to both of them. "I do what I can."

"I'll transfer your portion of the payment when it comes in," he assured her.

She reluctantly nodded. "Thank you."

Will looked to her bag for a quick moment. "What will you do now?"

The doctor let out a sigh. "As I said before, I will return to Palaven to inform my father of Corsin's passing. After that, I..." She shook her head. "I do not know."

"You're always welcome aboard the _Hyperion_," Will assured her with a small smile.

"I will remember that," she replied. "But for now, I must find my own way."

Tyrixis gave him and T'lees a curt nod and turned to march off toward the market district. Will watched as she very quickly disappeared in the crowd that grew the further she walked.

"She is deeply troubled," T'lees noted.

"That's a fuckin' understatement," Will snorted as he looked back to the asari.

"That being said, I feel she will persevere." T'lees had continued to stare after her. "She is stronger than she appears, and she appears quite strong."

Will let out a sigh and led the two of them back into the docking bay.

"What is our plan now?" T'lees inquired.

"Drinks," he answered with a small smirk. "Tul, Shan and Kallux should be ready to meet us at Discharge soon."

"'Discharge?'" T'lees contorted her face in confusion.

"It's a bar," Will explained as he called for Eleena with his omnitool.

"I suppose that would make sense, given the directive of 'drinks.'" She closed and eye and shook her head. "Such colorful names here on Omega."

"This your first time here?" He perked a brow and faced her while waiting for Eleena to appear.

The asari smiled. "Oh, goddess, no. In fact, I have been here far _more _than I would have liked."

"Well, get used to it," Will said with a grin. "We don't have many other options for a supply hub."

The boarding door to the _Hyperion_ hissed and slid apart as Eleena came sauntering through with a satisfied smile.

"Guess I missed the sendoff?"

She came a stop next to Will and T'lees.

"Yep," Will put an arm around her shoulder. "But you're just in time for the R and R."

* * *

Will, Eleena and T'lees had arrived at Discharge to find it only about half-full. Additionally, the others were nowhere to be seen. They found a booth near the back of the blue and purple tinted, cylindrical room and put down a their jackets to hold the table before hurrying to order their drinks. Eleena and Will waited as the bartender slowly made his away around the circular bar at the center of the room while T'lees browsed the holographic menu curiously.

"What can get you?" The batarian bartender finally asked as he arrived in front of them.

"Scotch neat," Will and Eleena answered in near-perfect unison.

Will turned and raised a curious brow. The asari smirked and shrugged.

"You had a craving last night when we..." She looked over to make sure that T'lees was not paying attention to them. "Well, you know. And I kinda latched onto it."

He chuckled and looked back to the bartender. "We'll have something single malt. Nothing fancy." Will turned back to Eleena. "You can pick up cravings from... bonding?"

Eleena gave him an amused look. "You can pick up a lot more than that."

Will crossed his arms and leaned against the bar. "Huh. Is that why I've been so curious about jumpsuits the past few days?"

They locked eyes and shared a small laugh as their drinks were set beside them. The bartender moved on to T'lees and nodded.

"You?"

The asari tore herself from the menu and smiled. "A Blue Serenity, please."

Thirty seconds later a neon blue mixed drink appeared next to her. The three of them collected their drinks and returned to the booth just as Kallux, Shansa and Tul'Sorrin entered on the far side of the room. They spotted the others and, after ordering drinks for themselves, joined them at the table.

"So?" Will took a tiny sip from the cheap, plastic snifter his scotch had been served in. "How'd it go?"

He could already discern the answer from their attitudes and ecstatic expressions. The trio exchanged a few quick looks before Kallux took a sip of his ryncol and sat forward.

"See for yourself," he answered.

The krogan pulled a datapad from his belt and accessed the hangar's security camera feed. Will, Eleena and T'lees leaned forward curiously as he set it at the center of the table. The feed of a camera on the outside of the station blinked to life and slowly panned back and forth to show the full length of the same sleek corvette they had seen on Neidus.

"We hit the drop location after confirming the ship was here," Tul informed them. "They delivered the root system access keys, just as I ordered."

Shansa turned and grabbed the krogan's arm. "Kallux..."

He laughed and took another sip of his drink. "Don't worry, you'll get a chance at the helm. In fact, I was hoping Eleena and Tul could help with some diagnostic passes."

Will finally looked up from the holopad. "I wasn't planning on calling everyone back from shore leave to cast off for at least a week." He looked over to Tul and Eleena. "It's up to them."

Eleena swirled her liquor coolly as she eyed the ship. "I had some plans," she gave Will a sly look, "but I can spare a day or two."

"I would be glad to help," Tul added.

Kallux grinned and retrieved the holopad. "Good. I'd like to get a feel for the systems before you all set out again."

Eleena leaned back and took a small sip of her scotch. "Mmm, I can't wait to tear that thing apart."

The krogan narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"I mean... help you with those diagnostics," she jokingly recovered.

"It is a beautiful ship," T'lees commented. "Will you rename it?"

Kallux tilted his head and looked off to the side. "Hmm, hadn't thought about it. Should I?"

"Well, the name does seem rather irrelevant now, does it not?" Tul inquired as he sipped some of his drink through a metallic straw. "The Kalabsha System has no significance to the Red Moon Collective."

Shansa nodded her head quickly. "Plus, it may have been tagged as the _Pride of Kalabsha_ by some dastardly individuals. You probably don't want anyone thinking this is still Antarian's ship."

"True," Kallux shrugged. "Any suggestions then?"

Will downed the last drop of his scotch. "Why not something commemorative like the _Taxalur _or _Rentarius?_"

"I like the idea of remembrance, but I've never been a fan of naming ships to do so," the krogan smirked.

T'lees put a finger to her lips in contemplation. "What about a name that helps signify the purpose of the Red Moon Collective?" She took a sip of her blue mixed drink and turned her attention to Kallux. "Compared to the goals and motivations of most organizations in the Terminus, this group of yours is quite aberrant."

"Hey, there you go." Eleena looked over to Kallux. "How about the _Aberrant? _I kinda like that."

Will nodded in agreement. "Gets the message across." He smirked. "In an ironic sort of way."

Kallux raised his glass and downed a small gulp of his ryncol as he pondered the suggestion. "You know what? I kind of like it, too." He grinned and looked around the table. "_Aberrant _it is."

Those without empty glasses raised them and downed a sip of their drink of choice. Will, whose glass was empty at the moment, looked around the group with a smile. It was nice to see the relief on their faces.

"So, Tyrixis and Vayren have left?" Tul asked knowingly.

"Yep, right before we headed over here," Will answered. "I told them before we docked that they were welcome to join us."

"They don't seem like the bar type," Eleena mentioned with a shrug.

"Neither does she," Shansa joked as she nodded toward T'lees.

Kallux grinned amid a small bout of laughter. "I wouldn't say that. She just looks like she belongs in a Thessian lounge that charges a hundred creds a drink."

T'lees laughed softly. "Oh, goddess. Not anymore I'm afraid. My old social circle has not spoken to me since I was declared a criminal and forced to flee asari space. And one look at me now would most likely not help the situation."

Will furrowed his brow slightly. "Hey, there's no need to put yourself down. It's just an eyepatch."

The asari grinned playfully. "I was talking about if they were to see the rapscallions who accompany me."

"Hey!" Eleena leaned her head back and swallowed the last sip of her drink. "If anything, _you_ are accompanying the rapscallions. Not the other way around."

Tul snickered and glanced to Will. "Did Vayren or Tyrixis say much?"

Will shook his head. "Not really. I think Vayren was trying to keep things as professional as possible."

"Not surprising," Kallux mentioned.

"And Tyrixis..." Will let out a small sigh. "I'm not sure, but I think she'd rather not linger on her time with us."

"I can understand why," Shansa admitted with a frown. "Corsin was a good man."

The crew's lively expressions gently sank as silence spread across the table. A server stepped up to the table and placed a new glass in front of Will before looking around the table to see who else was low. As she walked off, Will lifted his drink to the center of the table.

"To Corsin."

The others raised the glasses in acknowledgment before drinking.

"I wish I could have thanked him properly," T'lees said solemnly. "Had he not insisted on giving me a chance to prove myself..."

"I'm glad he did," Will finished.

Another short silence fell over them as Will looked around the table curiously. The others seemed to have become lost in their own thoughts.

"So, Kallux," he asserted, "have you done any work with the RMC yet?"

The krogan nodded in affirmation. "Yes, actually. Many of the other senior members are headed to Omega as we speak. We'll be meeting to establish protocols and the like." He looked over to Will. "I'd like for you to attend, if you have the time."

Shansa grinned as Will let out a groan. "You just had to ask," she jabbed.

"Do we have an agenda set for after our downtime?" Tul asked curiously.

"That depends." Will raised a brow to Kallux. "Any leads?"

"I've got a few that could use some looking into," the krogan answered. "Mostly gang problems."

"Might not even need to leave Omega for that," Eleena mentioned offhandedly.

Will's omnitool bracelet buzzed as a message arrived. He raised his wrist and activated the tool see a funds transfer alert had been delivered. His eyes widened slightly as he opened the message, then widened further as he read the amount of credits that had been deposited into the crew account. Eleena was the first to attempt a look at whatever had caught Will's attention.

"Whatcha got there?" She asked while leaning over to get a better look.

"Oh, nothing," Will said as he deactivated the omnitool. "Just a reminder of why I love fighting the good fight."

"Which is?" Eleena looked him up and down.

Will smiled and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "You'll find out in a day or two after I finish the accounting." He stood and stepped to the edge of the table. "For now, how does a round of irresponsibly expensive drinks sound?"

With an overwhelmingly positive response, he turned and headed toward the bar while trying to hold a small smile. When Vayren and Corsin had approached them just under a month ago, he was worried that their proposition would be more trouble than it was worth. Given all that had happened, he was still trying to decide if they had performed as well as they could have. There had been too many close calls. One too many deaths. But they had also succeeded in taking down a monumental threat. He came to a stop at the bar and closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

"What'll it be?" The bartender asked.

He opened his eyes and cleared his throat. "Something expensive." Will paused as the small smile returned to his lips. "We're celebrating a job well done," he decided. "And tomorrow's looking damn good."

Of that, he was certain.

* * *

**Author's Note**

And thus ends Volume Two! The third installment is already in progress and is going to diverge a bit from the tone/theme of one and two, so I'm really excited for how it will (hopefully) turn out. I'm aiming to get the first chapter of Volume Three up in a week or two, so keep an eye out for that on my author page. Thanks for reading, and if you liked it, leave a review!


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